Lux ex Tenebris: Light From Darkness
by Kyuun
Summary: Angelic chains suddenly appear and threaten the lives of anyone who tries to obtain that intention. Along with this threat faces from the past reappear and lost souls bear their sins upon their bodies. Can light prosper in darkness? Rating may rise to M
1. Chapter 1

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**Chapter 1**

It's been about two days since the gang met Leo in Reviel and Gilbert was on edge worrying about his master. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened to them during the festival.

_"Talk to me?" Oz says in confusion as he turned to look at the boy he was speaking to_

_"Yes, Oz-kun*?" The boy says calmly looking back at Oz with a small smile on his lips. "You see… I've come for you." He states with his hands in his lap politely._

_"Come for me…What for?" Oz says with his eyes hardening as the two looked at each other, almost like they were seeing inside of each other. Oz then scowled, sensing Gilbert and Alice moving to stand behind him. 'This is just like looking into the eyes of the exact opposite of what we are…' Oz thought confusedly before he shook his head. 'No, it's not. Leo is my friend… He was Elliot's friend too! Why would I even think such things?' He thought wanting to smile at Leo but his lips formed a scowl._

_"I believe you already know why I have come." Leo says calmly._

_"To talk right?" Oz says casually and Leo let out a soft chuckle._

_"That is so…" He says softly. "I have a plan, you see. It involves both of us working together though, which you may not be willing to do." Leo says softly as he watched Oz's face intently._

_"I see. And what is this plan of yours?" Oz says casually with a slight curious look._

_"I'm afraid I cannot tell you at this moment. After all members of Pandora are listening to you, correct?" He says casually as Oz shrugged._

_"I, usually, don't know whether they are or not unless they show themselves." Oz replies causing Vincent to chuckle softly but he stayed silent._

_"Why are you showing your faces to us?" Gilbert states harshly as Leo tilted his head curiously._

_"Because, I wished to speak with Oz-kun, Gilbert-sama**... That is not a crime. Vincent here also wished to see his precious big brother as well, so we are very glad to have found you." Leo says innocently as he looked back at Oz. "He is one of the only friends I have left after all. You are still my friend, correct?" He adds watching Oz smile softly at him._

_"Yeah… I'm still your friend, Leo." He says gently before frowning. "But, I'm willing to help you but I won't if it's going to hurt the innocent people around us." Oz states in a serious tone before Leo looked at him confusedly._

_"There are no innocent people… Everyone is impure in some way or another… Everyone has committed a sin. Everyone has done something that they could go to hell for. There are no innocent people in this world, Oz-kun." Leo states calmly and Oz shook his head._

_"That may be true but these people, the ones around us now, have no idea the abyss even exists. They live their lives day to day, whether, it be a miserable or happy one. If your plan involves getting them hurt then I won't help you." Oz states and Leo smiled at him._

_"How do you know it might hurt them when you don't even know what I wish to say?" Leo asks amusedly and Oz frowned._

_"I know who you are… No one else seems to have figured it out but I've seen things, so I have…" Oz says with a slight sad look in his eyes. _

_"I see… Well, I expected no less, Oz-kun is quite smart after all." Leo says smiling happily and Oz felt his lips twitch._

_"What are you two going on about?" Alice states in annoyance to Oz, who simply smiled at her._

_"It's nothing, Alice… You've got nothing to worry about." Oz says calmly reaching up and patting her shoulder._

_"Yes, Alice-san***, you've got nothing to worry about, my business is with Oz-kun today." Leo says with a small chuckle as Oz pulled his hand away from Alice._

_"Unless you tell us what your plan is you have no business to discuss with my master." Gilbert states and Leo softly laughs shaking his head._

_"Then shall we go somewhere more private, Oz-kun?" Leo asks standing with his hand stretched out to Oz as if he expected Oz to reach his hand. Oz reached his hand up to take the other male's hand, with the intent to go with him, but he and Leo both were grabbed by their servants and pulled back right as a woman appeared between them wielding an axe. The group was not so surprised by the weapon but more of the giant white wings that were spread wide from her back. _

_"I think not you will not!" She shouts letter her long flowing hair hide her face. "As ordered by my master, I have been told to stop the two of you from repeating the same mistakes." She says standing up with a cold look in her vermilion eyes._

_"Just who are you?" Gilbert states with hatred in his eyes as the woman flipped her gray hair back exposing her young face with eyes filled with seriousness._

_"I am a chain known as Birth. I am the first of the Intention's greatest creations and my master will no longer stand for you people hunting her like she is something to be owned." The woman states as he lifted her axe._

_"You, Lord Oz Vessalius tell the other Dukes of this meeting and give them a message. If they continue their quest to obtain her there will be chains more beautiful and more powerful than any they have faced before and they will defeat the Dukes if they choose to obtain her." The woman states with harshness in her voice watching Oz's terrified eyes stare at her. "And do not think that this warning does not extend to you, Lord Leo…" She states but stops when Vincent steps forward stopping her._

_"Oh, we completely understand, My Lady." Vincent says interrupting her before she could finish her threat._

_"If you understand then take your leave. All of you…" She states as she watched Gilbert push Oz behind him and draw his gun. "Oh please, Lord Gilbert Nightray… You offend me by drawing such a weak weapon. My powers are far superior to even that of your precious Raven." She states highly before turning away. "I suppose, I shall take my leave but if two do wish to continue, me and my fellow chains shall revolt. No man can conquer us…" She states before jumping up and taking off into the sky._

_"Was that really a chain?" Oz says in confusion as he looked at Gilbert and then to Alice. He notice the girl looked petrified and had her mouth hanging wide open. "Alice…?" Oz says as she watched the girl tremble. "Are you alright?" He asks placing his hands on her shoulder._

_"T-that thing… I've never sensed such a thing. She didn't look tough but that was not human… I don't even believe it's a chain. It can't be a chain." Alice says with wide eyes._

_"Hmm… It seems that both, Demios and Door-mouse, also are a bit bothered by her appearance." Vincent says glancing at Zwei who looked uncomforted by his words._

_"Raven doesn't seem intimidated by her at all." Gilbert says softly as if in relief before he felt Oz's hand in his._

_"Gil… Let's go. I think we should leave for now." Oz states quietly, glancing at Leo, who was staring at him with curiousness. "We're leaving, Leo. And, I believe that if our goals are the same then we can team up to accomplish them." Oz states watching Leo frown at him._

_"Then until that time comes see me as only your enemy, Oz-kun... I do not wish to cause you any harm." Leo states before he turned and walked away._

_"It's was nice seeing you, Big Brother… It was a shame that we could not chat longer." Vincent says casually before walking away and Gilbert grimaced._

_"Right… I have a lot I want to ask you about, Vince. Remember that." Gilbert says in a serious tone before he watched the three disappear into the crowd that seemed oblivious to what had just happened._

'That woman threatened us… And now everyone is on high alert. Just how powerful could those chains be?' He thought as he heard the sound of gun fire and a scream of agony and he gasped because it sounded like Oz. Fear suddenly over took over his body and he jumped out of his seat. He bolted out the door heading to Oz's room only to see a group of guards crowding around. "What happened?" Gilbert shouts pushing his way through to see Oz lying on the ground with a couple of people checking on him. He felt his heart race in panic and worry for his friend. "Oz!" Gilbert shouts running to the boy's side. He was gripping his chest and tears were running out of his eyes. 'Was it the Incuse?' He thought terrified as he heard Oz mutter something. "Are you alright?" He whispers.

"Mother…" His master whimpers causing Gilbert to tilt his head.

"It was a Doji***, sir…" One of the guards surrounding them says. "It burst through the window and attacked Oz." He continued causing Gilbert to grit his teeth.

"You're wrong…" Alice states and Gilbert noticed she was standing there leaning against the wall in front of Oz. Gilbert frowned before he picked Oz up bridal style.

"If you people have time to stand around and gawk at my master then get to work on tracking down the thing that attacked him." Gilbert shouts causing the men to scatter.

"No…" Oz moans grabbing Gilbert's jacket as he carried his master into his bed room.

"What happened, Alice?" Gilbert states knowing that the girl had followed him.

"There was a woman with long blonde hair standing outside of Oz's room, she smelt exactly like Birth did. Oz had seemed shocked at the site of her and called out to her using a strange name. He then ran to her and embraced her, she hugged him back she looked happy to see him." Alice says softly watching Gilbert lie Oz onto the bed. "She told him that she had been brought back to life for a special purpose and she would make sure no one in this world was harmed. She then told him she knew of our illegal contract." Alice says tilting her head slightly as she watched Oz struggle to get up. "She said that it was alright and she would help us… She then pulled out some type of necklace. Then next thing I knew the woman was being shot at and Oz was screaming at them to stop. She threw the necklace at Oz telling him to use it before she burst out the window and disappeared." Alice says softly watching Gilbert hold Oz down gently so he would rest. "Oz seemed really angry at them for shooting at her, though…" She says softly as she continued to watch the two. Oz had closed his eyes and seemed to fall unconscious. Gilbert then pulled the boy's boots off his feet. "Say, Seaweed head… What's a mother?" Alice asks softly and Gilbert looks at her curiously.

"Why are you asking this all of a sudden?" Gilbert questions as Alice crosses her arms.

"Oz called the chain _mother_. I was just curious as to what it meant." She says calmly as Gilbert looked at her with slightly wide eyes.

"Oz called the thing that attacked him _Mother_?" Gilbert says before he remembers Oz was whimpering that word before he was picked up. Gilbert then turned toward the boy and started unbuttoning his shirt, intending to look at the contract but when he pulled the shirt aside the contract was not there causing him to gasp. "I-It's gone…" He says as he noticed the locket like necklace around Oz's neck. Carved into the front was a symbol that looked like the Incuse but it was missing a chunk and Gilbert frowned.

"Where'd Oz's contract go?" Alice questions before she sensed something coming toward then and she looked toward the balcony door, where the blonde appeared causing Gilbert to draw his gun. "Hey, it's mother…" Alice says with a surprised look, pointing to the woman, who simply smiled at her.

"I'm afraid that's not my name, Alice B. Rabbit-san. My chain name is _Death_. And you are Gilbert Nightray." She says calmly as she watched Gilbert curiously. "It is a special pleasure to meet the dear friends of my son." She says calmly smiling at him but Gilbert didn't falter by her words.

"What have you done to my master?" Gilbert states in an ordering way and the woman frowns.

"I've done nothing wrong… I simply use my powers to remove my son's contract from his body and placed it inside the locket I was making him the day that I died. Is it wrong for a mother to love her son even though she has become a chain?" The woman asks casually and Gilbert grimaces.

"So, you admit that you are one of the chains that are here to stop us." Gilbert states coldly and the woman smiles amusedly.

"Stop you? My, what has Birth told you all? Something frightening, I suppose. We are here to protect the intention of the abyss. She had stumbled upon one of her own memories that she had cast away and she does not wish for history to repeat itself and cause you all your lives to end. We are created to watch over you people and keep you from obtaining her power. I suppose, that is trying to stop you though…" She says crossing her arms underneath her breasts before she smiled warmly.

"How many more are there of things like you?" Alice states with a small pout on her lips.

"Right now there are only me and Birth… We are searching for the others." She says calmly and Gilbert scowled.

"Searching?" He questions glaring at the woman who seemed eager to respond to him.

"Yes, each of us new chains has a soul and a conscious. We are people that lost our lives prematurely in one way or another. Our souls then recreate the bodies of the Life they had lost and the intention gives us our powers." The woman says gently.

"Are you trying to tell us you are practically human? Who, on earth, would believe such a nonsensical thing?" He says coldly.

"Believe it if you will... I simply want to protect my children and that is why I came here today. That necklace around Oz's neck is where his contract resides now… Destroy it and the contract will return to Oz's body. Do not destroy it and he will not be dropped into the abyss _and_ will have full access to B-Rabbit's powers." She says in a serious voice watching Gilbert lower his gun.

"Why would you do something like this for us?" He questions and the woman tilted her head.

"_Us_? I did it simply for my Oz's sake…Not for Pandora's and not for the people around him. I hope Oz learns of the deceit he is surrounded by soon or he will end up just like Jack. Cold…Alone…and used to the point of his death." She says coldly, catching Gilbert with her emerald green eyes. Then she suddenly smiled warmly at him. "But you won't let that happen…The minute you find out, please take him somewhere safe and protect my little boy." She says before she turns and disappears. Gilbert quickly moved to the balcony to catch her but he found that she was gone and there was only a gentle breeze.

"Shit… What did she mean by that? Who's lying to my master?" He muttered in annoyance as he turned and walked back into the room.

"My Rachael… you sure ruffled Raven's feathers." Birth says as she sat on the roof of Pandora with the blonde woman, Death.

"I did as I was told and gave them the information and in return, for giving that information, Alyss-sama let me remove Oz's contract." Death says calmly as Birth laughed softly.

"They have given us Chains a name already, though…Doji meaning a sprite with white wings, basically angels." Birth says with a slight smile.

"Angels of the Abyss… It's lovely don't you think?" Death says with a giggle.

"Yeah, it suits us girls perfectly." She replies as she held up her hand. "Shall we go back, Rachael?" She asks softly and Death nodded.

"Have you found enough souls?" Death asks softly and Birth smiled.

"Two… The last one I found looked very interesting and I think it'll make a good soul to become Rebirth. After all it has been reborn about as many times as that Baskerville soul." Birth replies smiling a gleeful look on her face.

"Hmm… A soul powerful enough to keep up with such a tainted soul would have to be its exact opposite wouldn't?" Death replies with a slight excitement.

"Yes… And I believe it is." She says standing.

"This will be most interesting." Death says happily as the disappeared into orbs of light.

**Definitions thanks to _Sensei's Library_ (** **http:/ senseis .xmp. net/?JapaneseNameSuffix)**

*** -kun:** **Generally for male children. Also could be used when addressing a male of lesser status. High school boys are "kun", but -kun can also be used a term of address by an older man to a younger man, or among friends and equals. Thus a boss can address a junior male employee as -kun, but the employee will address the boss as Kacho, or maybe -san or -sama, depending on the situation.**

****-san:** ** serves as a mark of respect. A person may be addressed with the "-san" suffix if the speaker does not know the subject well, but the speaker does not wish to be rude to the subject, or when the subject has a higher social rank than the speaker. Nobody can reasonably take offense at -san. (Well, some people can be offended by anything, but that is a different issue.) -san is used for both males and females. Girls become -san when entering high school, boys become -san when leaving high school. Obviously, individuals may have different experiences, but we're talking about a rule of thumb.**

*****-sama: used as a polite term of address to someone noticeably older or of higher status than yourself. Thus clerks and waiters and other service sectors employees will call just about everybody -sama, probably as 'o-kyaku-sama' (Ms Guest, or Mr Guest). O-sama is also used as a standalone title. It's very polite and shows either that the person you are addressing outranks you by a large margin is much older than you, or you are in a very formal situation - or maybe you don't know their name and need a polite address. It is sometimes translated into English as 'Lord' or 'Lady', but it is more like 'sir' or 'ma'am'. I can't explain in which cases you call someone "-sama" other than the obvious cases ("oto-sama" (otō-sama) - instead of "oto-san" (otō-san) - to call your father if you have a rich family and have to show very very big big big respect to him; or when talking to a "Lord")**

****** Doji: a spirit with white wings, accounted in European mythology as being like an angel.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**Chapter 2**

"It seems that Leo and Vincent have already visited…" Oz says softly as they stood in front of a tombstone looking at two bouquets; one of just black roses and the other with yellow and black roses.

"Yeah, and Leo seems is starting to adopted my brother's taste in flowers." Gilbert says setting down a bouquet of assorted flowers. 'It's been four years since Elliot died…and he still brings flowers to him. At least, I know the kids still human and that he still cares about his friend.' He thought with a small sigh as he looked at his master who now looked like a nineteen year old boy but he was actually twenty nine. Raven was disappointed that his age had been frozen while Oz's had continued to move foreward but he knew that soon they would look like the same age for a short while and he was secretly looking forward to such a time.

"It's nice that Leo hasn't forgotten him, right? Elliot would be sad if Leo had done so." Oz says bringing Gilbert out of his thoughts with his bright summer's day smile.

"We still missed our chance catching him, you know… Isn't that what we've been trying to do every year?" Alice asks with a slight scowl, she too had surprisingly started aging and no one could figure out how it was possible for it to happen.

"Yeah but its fine for us not to find them… I mean, the Baskervilles haven't really been doing anything these past four years… Leo and Vincent have completely disappeared and no one can find them." Oz says casually before looking at the flowers.

"Except for when they were here…Once every year they come and we always miss them. It seems we missed them again, haven't we?" Break says cheerily as Gilbert glared at him.

"It because you all raided the Nightray manor, when you knew that they'd be there and caused them to abandon the place, they haven't been seen since…" Gilbert states in annoyance and Break chuckled.

"Well, if we had not, they would have gone through with their plans." Break states causing Oz to scowl. Break had found out that Leo was planning something days after the meeting when he Gilbert, and Alice were talking about it privately. He told the three Dukes and they focused of trying to take the boy out but failed.

"Then those Dojis appeared and wiped out most of your chains… Apparently they truly meant anything involving the Intention…Including raids to stop such things from occurring." Oz reminded him and the man simply chuckled.

"And that is exactly why we have put it all on hold? We are focusing on finding the boy to keep him from trying to obtain the Intention." Break says sweetly but everyone knew it was the opposite.

"We don't know that was what he was doing! You assumed that and told the Dukes about it." Oz stated coolly and Break gave him a warning look. 'I'm not a kid anymore, so it's harder to control me, isn't it?' He thought glaring at Break.

"Ah, is it these ones up here, Brother Elliot?" A teen's voice shouts as a girl wearing a tan peasant dress and a grey cloak appeared five feet away from them. She had long blonde hair that was braided into a pony tail that stopped at the middle of her back; she also carried a single scarlet lily in her bare fingers.

"Yeah… It should be." Another male voice says as a person wearing a white cloak appeared behind the blonde, his appearance and clothing hidden behind the cloak and hood. "You should really wear your hood up, Efa. It still quite cold out at this time of the day, you may get sick." The person says in a worried way as the group noticed that he was holding six pure white calla lilies in his left arm. The two then noticed the others and became tense; the man standing in front of the younger child. "We should come back some other time, Efa." The taller male says softly before he bowed deeply. "My humble apology for interrupting…" He says turning away but Gilbert stops him.

"You're here to see the Nightray family?" Gilbert states with a curious look and the man looks at back at him.

"We are but we shall come later." The man says calmly.

"It's no problem… please." Gilbert says smiling gently as the younger teen looked at Gilbert with wide eyes.

"Really? Thank you, Sir Nightray! Let's go!" The blonde says with a reassuring smile to the man, grabbing the other's right hand and pulling him toward the tombstones.

"We shouldn't bother you, My Lords." The man says softly.

"No, you may visit. We were just about to leave…" Gilbert says softly smiling at them, happy that there were people that visited his family other than him.

"Very well… We won't be long." The man says walking forward with the blonde holding onto him tightly. "Come along, Efa… Let's place the flowers down and leave. We don't want the spirits to be offended." He says calmly handing the teen a flower and she ran over to the first tombstone.

"Duke Nightray." The teen says with a curtsey before she placed the flower down in front of the tombstone. She then took another flower and moved to the next tombstone. "Lady Nightray." She whispered curtseying, placing the flower, with a small smile on her face. "It's nice to meet you my lady." She says sweetly before she moved to grab another flower. "Sir Fred Nightray… Eldest." She says with a slight tilt to his head.

"These flowers… They were here last year, weren't they? Did you two put them here?" Oz says curiously and the man nods.

"I did… I came alone. This year my little cousin decided to come with me, right?" The man says handing the last flower to the blonde girl, who nodded.

"Yes...I've admired the Dukedoms since I was very small." She says before running over to the next tombstone.

"You only have six?" Oz asks with a confused look as the blonde jumped in front of him.

"Seven!" She says holding up the red lily in his hand. "I'm giving it to Sir Elliot Nightray, the youngest Nightray, he's two years older than my brother... err... cousin but he's my brother too." She states with a serious but confused look on her face.

"Hey now… Be polite to him and please don't confuse yourself." The man states as the girl happily walked over to him and grabbed the last calla lily.

"Why give him a flower that's different that the rest?" Break questions and the girl looked at him with a threatening stare.

"Because he is different… That's all I have to say to the likes of you." She says turning away and standing in front of one of the tombstones. "Lady Vanessa Nightray… I bet you were a lovely young woman." She says grinning shyly before she moved over to Elliot's tomb. "Wow… Somebody doesn't like him." She says poking the black rose.

"It is not our business, Efa…" The man says with a slight sigh. "Place your flower and let's go. Rakkel will want me to get you home soon." He says casually.

"But…" The girl, Efa, says looking at the roses. "Why would they put such sad things on-" She tries to ask before the man sighed again.

"Don't question the ways of the nobles, Efa… Let's go." He says taking her hand so they could leave but Break stops him.

"Well, now… Leaving so soon?" Break asks amusedly as the man stepped back.

"My aunt is expecting us home." The man says calmly.

"Strange… Your little friend there called you brother." Break says in a knowing way and the man chuckled.

"My cousin only has an older sister and her mother. My father was killed by some deranged murderer… I'm only about three years older but I grew up with her, so she calls me her _brother._" He says casually.

"You are my brother and I love you…" The teen says with a small pout and the man smiled at her.

"And I love my little sister too…" He replies with a slight laugh. "Anyway… I don't see why you are questioning us. We've done nothing wrong." The man says with a serious sound to his voice.

"He's right, Break. Leave them alone." Oz says looking at the man with an apologetic look on his face.

"Thank you, sir. We have to be going, now… Forgive us. We'd stay longer but it's a long walk home." He says softly turning away from them.

"Now… Now…Don't be in such a rush. You've been on guard since you saw us." Break says blocking them with a cane.

"Isn't it only natural for one to be tense when we bump into someone of authority?" Efa says childishly.

"Break, let it be…" Gilbert states in annoyance at his friend's behavior as Break scowled at them.

"Listen… I am blind… I use my other senses to identify people. You've been here about five…maybe ten minutes and I noticed you have a limp on your right side and you've opened and closed your left hand countless time as if it was hurting…" Break says watching the blonde teen gasp at his words.

"Ah… Is it bothering you, Brother?" The teen interrupts taking the man's left hand as she began to rub in gently. "You need to soak it when we get back. We don't want a repeat of last time." She says as Break clears his throat.

"This makes me suspicious about your ability to use that hand. It's not just that, might I add… your voice is also very familiar." Break says casually and the man looked at him slightly annoyed.

"I beg your pardon, sir, for this means nothing to me… I was in an accident a few years back and injured myself. As for my voice, sir, I can guarantee you that I've never met you until today." The man says softly as Break raised his cane up and stuck it in the man's hood.

"But you knew Gilbert was a Nightray on site, did you not?" He says with a slight smirk on his lips.

"A man should always know who his nobles are and show them respect…" The man replies moving his head to the side, removing the cane from his hood.

"And you say that but you do not remove your hood. That is disrespectful…is it not?" Break says as the man pulling his hood to hide his face even more.

"Then, I beg Lord Nighray's forgiveness because I cannot lower my hood. The accident severely maimed me and I would not like to disgust my lord, with the site of my face." The man explains calmly and Gilbert frowns.

"Thank you, for your concern, but I wouldn't ask it of you, even if you didn't feel that way about your face." Gilbert says softly causing the teen to smile.

"That's very kind of you, sir." Efa pipes cheerily hugging her cousin's arm. "Brother… We should go now, right?" She asks with a cutesy look and the man nods.

"It was a pleasure speaking to you all. Good health and God's blessings to you." The man says with a bow and the teen beside him curtseyed as well.

"Of course…Same to you." Oz says cheerfully before he noticed the man was smiling as he turned away from them and began walking toward the exit of the cemetery.

"Right… Just one more question, if you would kind, sir." Break says in fake politeness with a sarcastic undertone.

"Yes… What is it?" He asks softly as if trying to hide his anger.

"How, on earth, are you alive? It was said you had died four years ago, Elliot-kun." Break says pulling out a lollipop as he moved forward and grabbed the back of the man's hood, pulling it down exposing his face. His hair was a light blonde almost silver; short and it stuck out in places in the front. He wasn't looking at the group but everyone there could, very well, tell that it was Elliot Nightray.

"Forgive me…" He states before he grabs Efa, throwing her over his shoulder, bolting down towards the exit.

"I am never mistaken…" Break states as Oz frowned at him.

"For once the clowns, right. I caught a whiff of that guy… He smelt like the kid, minus Humpty Dumpty's stench… It wasn't present." Alice states casually, like it wasn't a very big deal that the boy was still alive, as she glanced at the scarlet lily on the ground.

"I think we should, at least, follow him to see where he goes and confront him. There's no way that he's not Elliot, his face looked too much like Elliot's and I know it's crazy to think of but the dead have been rising these past few years." Oz states with a serious look on his face and Break smiled charmingly. 'Those Fianna children that were still feeling the effect of the Nightray experiments suddenly got better last year and I can't forget my mother four years ago. I-I wonder why she hasn't visited Ada.' Oz thought feeling a bit worried about what was going on.

"Equus is already on it." Break says with a slight chuckle causing Oz to snap out of his worry mode and grin as he looked at Gilbert, wondering if he was happy to see Elliot alive.

"I don't know why you two believe it's him. We saw him lying dead on the ground. How can it be him? I'll believe it when I see proof." Gilbert states harshly, looking away from them feeling a pain in side his chest. 'There's no way… No way my little brother's alive. He was dead…' Gilbert thought looking at the tombstone with pained eyes.

"A scarlet lily… I wonder why that girl put a flower on his grave if he's still alive..." Alice says with a curious look as she picked it up but Gilbert grabbed it from her and put it back.

"In the language of the flowers, a red lily means, high-souled aspirations…" A woman's voice says and they all turn to see Ada standing behind them.

"Ada! What are you doing here? Did you see Elliot?" Oz says with a bit of a cheerful look on his face as the girl looked at him a bit confused.

"No, I didn't. I came here to inform you all that the other Dukes are requesting our presence for a meeting. Shall we go?" She asks smiling at her big brother.

"Yeah." He says with a slight nod.

"We'll have Equus report on his whereabouts after the meeting." Break states with a slight intrigued look in his eye. 'I wonder just how the littlest Nightray survived his fall with Humpty Dumpty.' Break thought as he followed behind Alice, Ada, and Oz who were moving toward the gate.

"Break…" Gilbert states with a slight desperate look on his face.

"Yes, what is it?" Break asks looking at the distressed Raven.

"If this really is Elliot… We're not going to charge him are we? I mean… It wouldn't be right. Besides I don't think I would be able to handle it. Neither would Oz…" Gilbert says softly so the others wouldn't hear.

"Until we are sure, we best keep it under our hats then… Do not worry, if it is your brother we can use him to lure out our target. He won't be killed anytime soon." Break says smiling gleefully causing Gilbert to frown.

"I wish you wouldn't put things in such cruel ways." Gilbert mutters placing his hand on his forehead. 'At least I will be able to protect him if it be necessary. Being the Duke has its perks sometimes.' He thought miserably. About a month after the horrid deaths of the Nightray family Gilbert was placed in to the position of Duke Nightray, being the only Nightray left loyal to Pandora and the other Dukedoms. Despite becoming the Duke, Gilbert still tagged along with Oz and Alice anywhere they went and acted as if the position of power had not been placed on him.

"Hey Gil! Let's get going! We'll be late for our meeting! The Duke shouldn't be tarty!" Oz shouted in a playful way as Gilbert felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment before he climbed into the carriage.

'I pray, that if it is Elliot, he hasn't done something that will get him in trouble with Pandora again…One count against him is bad enough as it is.' Gilbert thought with a small sigh as he watched Ada and Oz chat happily.

**__**

"Ah… Elliot, you and Efa are back." A middle aged woman with blonde hair pulled up into a bun says as Elliot walks into the packed bar. "Cordelia's napping… and Alyss is too." The woman says with her emerald eyes shimmering like eyes of a young girls would.

"Ah… Cor-chan* must have tired Alyss-chan out. I'll have to apologize to her." Elliot says with a slight chuckle as he watched Efa go through a doorway that led to the apartments above the bar. He then remembered the incident and sighed.

"Something bothering you…" The woman says and Elliot nods.

"My past appeared and tried chasing me home." Elliot says softly as he leaning against the counter and put his head into his hands running his hands up through his hair. "If it wasn't for us jumping to the shadows, ourselves, we would have been tailed all the way here." He says sighing and the woman chuckles.

"Sounds like you and Efa had fun then. It's good though…little Efa hardly gets out. It's not good for young boys like you two." She says in a scolding manner but her smile said otherwise.

"It was dangerous… but worth it, to be able to visit my family's graves." He says softly, lowering his head in shame. 'I wouldn't have to, if I hadn't killed them…And of course they're not really buried there… Most of them were burned up in a fire.' Elliot thought sadly before he felt fingers pressing at the corners of his mouth.

"Smile… Smile, Elliot!" A black haired girl with Ice blue eyes says pushing his cheeks back so he'd look like he was smiling.

"REE-SHEE-MA." Elliot says through his lips that he couldn't move because of the girl. "Rrr-et go." He growls as the girl laughs but does as she was told.

"Oh, come on Elliot! You know you needed cheering up!" the girl says playfully as she wiggled her finger in front of his face.

"Move it before I remove it, Rishima." Elliot states with an annoyed look on his face before the girl laughed hotly.

"Oh, I'd like to see you try, _reject_!" She states with a smirk and Elliot stood with intent to kill and the girl squeals as Elliot jumped over the counter to tackle her but she bolts.

"Elliot… You two are going to get in trouble again!" Efa says appearing wearing a frilly maid outfit.

"Oh, Efa, you should try wearing some boy clothing… You are a boy, you know." The blonde says to the young girl, who blinked before smiling.

"But I want to be like you guys so I have to wear such things." He says happily as he ran over and jumped onto Elliot's back to keep him from hurting the girl, Rishima. "Elliot! Zelda told me to give you this. She wants you to go get the rose order for the decorations in the dress shop." Efa says gleefully and Elliot sighed.

"Right… I'll go get them then." He says sighing taking the paper with a small sigh before he pulled his hood up and walked out of the Building. He looked at the paper and smiled slightly.

"She hates my guts but when it comes to chores for the shop, she'll throw them my way." He says softly with a slight chuckle. "I suppose, I will show my worth." He says casually walking toward the flower shop, where they order their roses from, passing a tea shop on his way. 'Maybe I should grab Alyss and Cordelia some cake on my way back. I'm sure they'd like that.' He thought smiling as he moved down the street. After about fifteen minutes he arrived at the shop and retrieved the order he was supposed to get before heading back to the bar. He stopped at the tea shop intending to get some cakes for Alyss and Cordelia. He entered the café and pulled his hood down as he walked up to the counter, smiling charmingly to the girl, who waved at him.

"Good morrow, Elliot-kun… Here to get that little girl of yours some sweets?" The young woman at the register says with a small blush to her cheeks.

"Yeah… I can't help it. She's just too cute." Elliot replies with a small chuckle as he glanced to his side sensing an illegal contractor but he didn't see anyone suspicious. "Can you give me the usual?" Elliot says calmly and the girl nods and heads off to get his order. While Elliot waited the owner of the shop walked over to him, she was an old woman but not frail or weak looking. She smiled happily at Elliot and Elliot bowed to her. "Good morrow." He says gently and the woman chuckles.

"Good morrow… My, are you trying to woo a lady today, Elliot-kun?" She says with a chuckle and Elliot laughed slightly.

"No… These are for the dress shop." He says watching the woman beam at him.

"Ah, so that's it. It's a pity a young man like you being single. You should find someone." She says with a knowing look. "Are your sister's treating you well?" she says causing Elliot to nod.

"Very well… Business is good here, isn't it?" He says motioning to the people around them trying to distract the elderly woman.

"Yes, everyone in town says that we make the best tea cakes. Suitable for Nobles they say." She says proudly and Elliot grinned at her.

"I have to agree." He says with a chuckle before they heard a squeal.

"Grandmother! Why must you always come out here when Elliot-kun comes over?" The young woman says with a slight blush on her face as she held a box of cakes in her hands.

"Oh dear, it's just innocent chatting with another business man. Besides, you should know your neighbors. Elliot-kun owns that little dress shop, you know…" The elderly woman says causing the girl to pout.

"Grandmother…" She grumbles before turning toward Elliot. "Here's your order, Elliot-kun… Forgive my Grandmother, she likes the young boys." She says with a bit of an embarrassed look on her face but Elliot smiled.

"No… It's fine. I enjoy chatting. Thank you for getting my order so quickly." He says pulling out his wallet and paying the girl. "Have a good day." He says taking the cake box before he turned to leave the shop but he bumped into some one causing him to drop the bundle of roses. "Ah, forgive me, sir." Elliot says picking up the bundle on to have the bundle to come undone and the roses spread on the floor.

"Not at all, I was at fault." The man says as if too shocked to say anything else as he watched Elliot pick up the roses. Elliot then pulled his hood up and walked out of the building he walked past some of the outdoor tables, muttering how it was not his day, when a couple of roses fell out of his arms. He picked up some of them but he noticed another hand had grabbed one of the roses.

"Here…" He says calmly in a familiar voice but before Elliot had time to register who it was, he lifted his head up to meet dark eyes that slowly filled with shocked. "E-Elliot?" He whispers in disbelief before Elliot stood and turned away.

"Keep it." Elliot states before he ran off.

**Definitions thanks to Sensei's Library (http:/ . net/?JapaneseNameSuffix)**

***Chan:** **An informal version of "san" used to address children and female family members. Children under about 10 years of age are "-chan", -chan continues to be used as a term of endearment, especially for girls, into adulthood. Parents will probably always call their daughters -chan and their sons -kun. Adults will use -chan as a term of endearment to women with whom they are on close terms. Sexist Japanese men will also use it to address waitresses and other junior women. This is still quite common in Japan and is usually considered acceptable; feminism is lagging behind the West. "-chan" is also used with pets and animals. It is also used as a way of describing someone for who you have strong feelings towards such as a girlfriend or a crush that you would only address as chan while talking to friends.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**Chapter 3**

'Pandora was watching the whole night before today… It was the anniversary of Elliot's death at midnight last night so of course they'd be expecting us but the night is the best way to travel… no one can see you and it's easy for Door Mouse to put people to sleep.' Leo thought sitting at the table outside with Echo, waiting for Vincent to finish up with his errands. He would have stayed back at the hide out but he hadn't been out in the day light for a few months so he wanted to spend the day outside. He looked at Echo, who stood beside him with an emotionless face, like she always did, before sighing. 'It's lonely living like this…' He thought closing his eyes and his mind wander toward the things of the past and he grimaced. He didn't want to think about those things anymore but his mind always wandered back, when he had nothing more important to think about. His eyes opened as he heard the sound of a bell, indicating that someone was leaving the shop. He glanced up and saw that it was a man wearing a hooded cloak. 'That's not suspicious at all, Mister. I wonder what he's hiding.' Leo thought in a bored way as he looked that the many Roses he carried. He then noticed that some of them fell and the man muttered about having a bad day. Leo, for some reason stood and walked over to the man. He knelt down and picked up one of the roses before holding out to the man, who noticed he had appeared. "Here…" Leo states casually and the man lifted his head up. Leo thought his heart stopped at the site of the man's face. It was older, but the shape of the man's face, the shape and color of the man's eyes, and the color and style of the man's hair were exactly like Elliot's, there was no mistaking it, and with the site of the man's face came back all them memories and the pain of the teen's death. He took a staggered breath, planning on saying something but not what actually came out of his mouth. "E-Elliot?" Leo says in disbelief as the man stood quickly, seeming to recognize Leo, and looked a little freaked his self.

"Keep it!" The man states before he rushed off and Leo stared at the retreating figure, with his heart racing in a panic.

"W-Wait!" He shouts at the top of his lungs as he bolts after the man, who started running the minute he hit the street. 'W-Who is that? Why does he have Elliot's face? D-Did it work? I thought it failed, so then who is that?' Leo thought taking after the person with a determined look in his eyes. 'I feel so stupid… What will I do if this isn't Elliot? What if it is him…? Ugh…It's been four years; he dead. There's no way to bring him back! Why am I still chasing the dead?' He thought as he saw the man move into a building. "Right…" He muttered moving to enter the building. When he did entered the shop he gasped because he was standing in a dress shop. 'Right… Okay. I'm crazy for chasing this guy. This isn't Elliot… This cannot be. Elliot would never come in here.' He thought walking forward and a girl suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Hello!" She shouts causing Leo to jump and move back away from her. "Well, that's not a very nice way to greet a lady." She says crossing her arms.

"Shut it… You're not a lady, Efa." Elliot's voice states as the girl pouted at him.

"Am too." She states.

"Last time, I checked girls didn't have things dangling between their legs." A woman's voice stated coldly as two silver haired people appeared. One was most definably the cloaked man but the other Leo couldn't place, even though she seemed familiar to him. She was looking at Leo with detest in her red eyes as she held the roses that Elliot had been carrying.

"You two are so mean to me." Efa says with a small pout on his lips before he left.

"Um… I'm sorry to disturb you." Leo says trying to seem like a calm gentleman but inside he his mind was still racing about possibility that the person in front of him was his master…his Elliot. The silver haired woman seemed to notice his nervousness and seemed to be even more aggravated.

"Elliot…Take care of this _thing_ you've dragged into our shop. I cannot stand looking at it…" The woman says in a demanding voice before she walked away and Elliot sighed looking at the pale Leo.

"Of course, Zelda-sama." Elliot says with a sigh as he moved forward towards Leo who stared at him like he saw a ghost.

"E-Elliot? I-Is that really you?" He says in disbelief as he moved forward and touched Elliot's face. Leo had remembered there had been a wound there under Elliot's bangs but all he felt was the smooth skin of a scar.

"Please don't do that. Zelda-sama hates men that are… Well, you don't need to know because she really doesn't like you anyway." Elliot says grabbing Leo's wrist. "Come with me, before she chooses to kill us both for stinking up her air." He says with a slight sigh as he pulled him toward a door on the side of the room. They went through the door and ended up in a hallway with stairs to the left, a door to the right, and in front of them. "So, why did you follow me?" Elliot asks pulling Leo up the stairs as Leo simply looked at him confusedly.

"I followed you to find out who you are! Who are you? You look like Elli-Elliot Nightray… That woman called you, Elliot, is that really your name? Please tell me who you are." Leo says sadly, knowing how crazy he must sound and Elliot simply hummed at his words.

"Do you believe I am this person?" Elliot asks softly and Leo frowned.

"I don't know…Are you?" Leo asks with an almost silent voice.

"If I told you the truth then it'd just continue with a string of questions from you." Elliot states as he stopped at the top of the stairs.

"No, i-if you don't want me to ask then I won't. Please… I just want to know who you are." He says with slight pained eyes and Elliot sighed.

"I'm afraid, you would ask questions…" He says letting go of Leo's wrist and walking over to the first door on the left side. He pulled out a key and opened the door before motioning for Leo to follow him.

"Please just…" Leo goes to say but Elliot looked at him with seriousness in his eyes.

"That's enough…" Elliot says sounded annoyed at his words.

"Just say 'yes' or 'no' then and I'll leave! I'll leave and never bother you again!" Leo states with a serious tone as he looked Elliot in the eyes, pleading for the man to just answer him.

"You…" Elliot says before sighing in annoyance and looking away from Leo. "I could lie to you, you know." He says softly looking over his shoulder to keep from looking at Leo.

"I know but don't care… Just tell me. I don't know why but I followed you, leaving my guards behind to find out who you were. I must be crazy to believe you'd actually tell me." Leo muttered darkly before he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, I am Elliot Nightray. I am the youngest son to the late Duke Nightray and the late Lady Nightray… My eldest brother was murdered by some unknown killer and then I killed my two brothers Ernest and Claude… Several months later at an Oz Vessalius's coming-to-age ceremony, I killed my sister, Vanessa, and my mother, Lady Nightray. Then I rejected my chain because I realized it was using me to kill my family off. In the end, I died because I was the core contractor and my Incuse was the furthest than all the other contractors." Elliot says softly as Leo opened his mouth to say something. "Is that enough for you? I know it's not… You have a million questions going through your head right now." Elliot snaps with an annoyed tone watching Leo stare at him with wide eyes, closing his mouth and tears forming in his eyes.

'That's only something Elliot would know… They stated that the head hunter was still on the loose the last time I checked There's no way commoners could know Elliot was the one that killed his family.' Leo thought feeling a mix of emotion fill his mind and he didn't know what to do. He was split between crying from confusion and happiness or beating the shit out of Elliot for being a dick by leaving him alone for four years.

"Don't cry… Geez, you're a man aren't you? See, that's why I said I could lie to you… It wouldn't have upset you if I did but I didn't… So knock it off! It's been four years and you haven't manned up at all!" He states in annoyance causing Leo to smile weakly. A moment of silence then broke out afterwards as the two stared at each other waiting for the opposite person to say something.

"Elliot-kun…?" A girl's voice says breaking the silence before a light brown haired girl appeared in the doorway with sleepy purple eyes. "Geez, you're so noisy... How does Cordelia sleep with you being so angry all the time." She muttered with a yawn as she stretched her arms into the air. She then noticed Leo and looked at the two with a curious look. "Hey! Isn't this the guy that your always doing nau-Oh, cake!" She says getting distracted as Elliot held up the box to distract her.

"Don't finish that sentence and I will let you have some." Elliot says with a dark blush on his cheeks as he grabbed Leo and pulled him into the apartment. Unsure of what he should do, Leo let himself get pulled into the apartment and set down on a couch. Leo looked around the room to see it was an average commoner's apartment, simple with a homey feel to it. There was a tan couch, an arm chair and a love seat all surrounding a nice little hand crafted coffee table. None of it looked too expensive but it didn't look cheap either. Leo still felt doubt over the fact that Elliot was alive. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to completely believe it but his mind raced with possibilities of what could have happened.

"Elliot." He whispered softly rubbing his eyes that made him feel like he would start crying. 'He was right… I do have questions for him but I said I wouldn't ask him.' He thought closing his eyes as he felt Elliot let go of his hand and he listened to the other two's footsteps. 'I want to know how Elliot's alive, if he knows how, at least. I want to know why Elliot didn't try and find us, why he didn't reach out to anyone. I know he was considered the head hunter but he's still a noble… He still is my most precious friend. Why didn't he, at least, try to find me?' Leo thought as he opened his eyes to see the girl leave with the box of cakes.

"Don't forget some of that is for Cordelia!" Elliot 's voice shouts at the girl before he appeared behind Leo. "That was the youngest of the family that owns this building. Her name is Alyss Barathrum*… The silver haired woman was Zelda Barathrum, her mother. The little blonde child you met was Efa Barathrum, Alyss's cousin. Don't let his appearance fool you; he is very much a thirteen year old boy." Elliot says leaning against the back of the couch. "Then there's Efa's mother, Rakkel Barathrum and her sister Rishima Barathrum. They all took me in about two years ago..." Elliot says softly as Leo looked back at him confusedly.

"I haven't asked any questions…" Leo says wondering why Elliot just told him all of that.

"Alyss told me I should tell you about them." He says softly and Leo frowned in a slight annoyance.

'I don't want to know about them… I want to know what happened to you.' Leo thought, biting his tongue to keep himself from saying anything.

"Do you want some tea? I put the kettle on the stove." Elliot says calmly as Leo looked at him with a shocked look. "Oh, come on, don't give me that look! It's been how many years? Geez, you look like a fish out of water, close your mouth." Elliot states in a flustered annoyance as he moved away from the back of the couch.

"I-I'm sorry." Leo says with a slight amused look. 'The fact this Elliot knows what a kettle is shocks me beyond belief. Elliot didn't know how to do any of this by his self.' He thought with a slight chuckle. "It's been four years…" Leo says with a small sigh as he frowned realizing he was talking to a supposed _dead man_. "I don't understand it…" He whispered softly. 'How did I miss…How could I have missed his pulse…_your_ pulse?' He thought as he looked at Elliot with his head lying back against the back of the couch. Elliot stayed silent, watching Leo shake his head. "I'm so sorry, Elliot." He says knowing that it didn't matter whether he apologized or not.

"You're not the one who should have to apologize for back then!" Elliot states harshly as he picked up something that was on the floor. "It was my own stupidity…" He adds and Leo shook his head.

"I was talking about leaving you there… If you were alive, I couldn't find your pulse. I checked…I check several times. I couldn't find a pulse and I was so panicked and stricken with grief. I wasn't thinking clearly and I must have missed it. None of the other's even tried to check… If they had…then-" Leo says closing his eyes as Elliot smacks him upside the head.

"Knock it off… It's not your fault. There was nothing you could have done, give the guilt trip a rest. Did you do that for the past four years. I hope not! You're…" Elliot says softly as he looked at Leo, who was staring up at him with pained eyes. "Just forget it, okay… I'm not angry at anyone because I was left behind. It doesn't bother me in the slightest… I would have left myself behind." He says with a slight sigh as the sound of a whistle went off. "I'll be right back…" He says softly as he walked away and Leo sighed.

He didn't even notice someone walking over to him, until he felt someone sit down beside him, he looked over expecting Elliot but he saw a little four year old holding a stuffed cat doll, staring up at him with dark colored eyes hidden behind glass rims. He blinked in confusion wondering who she was. Her hair was almost a silver blonde color and shoulder length. It hung in her face hiding her glasses and eyes partially.

"Who are you?" She asks in a shy way, hiding face behind the stuffed cat.

"Um… My name's Leo…um…Elliot's friend." He says softly, thinking the girl was one of the Barathrum family members. The girl's eyes seemed to light up at his words as she clapped her hands together.

"Daddy's friend?" She asks with a bit of happiness in her voice and Leo looked at her confused by her words.

"Daddy?" He says confusedly before the girl leapt forward stopping when her face was inches away from Leo's face.

"My name's Cordelia… It's nice to meet Daddy's friend, Leo-san." She says grinning ear to ear and Leo felt a little freaked out by her. Lucky for him the little girl pulled back and plopped back down onto the couch. "Daddy never has people over… He says he doesn't have any friends anymore but he mustn't have meant it! Cause you're Daddy's friend, right? Can we be friends too, Leo-san?" The girl babbles happily as she looked at her doll. "This is Cheshire… Alyss-neesan** made him for me. Isn't he cute?" She says waving the cat's paw at Leo.

"Y-Yeah." Leo says as he noticed Elliot coming back with a tray. "Um… Elliot." He says wanting Elliot to explain this person to him. Elliot seemed to notice this and sighed.

"Cordelia… What have I told you about talking to strangers?" Elliot says setting the cups of tea on the table along with sugar and milk.

"But he's not a stranger…" Cordelia says with a small pout. "Leo-san's Daddy's friend." She says sliding closer to Leo causing the boy to laugh nervously.

"But he's a stranger to you and you're a stranger to him… And do not use his name so casually. You're being rude." He says calmly as he handed Leo a cup on a saucer.

"But Daddy!" She says pouting as Leo frowned at her.

"He is a Nobleman. His name is Leo Baskerville…The head of the Baskerville family. You are to address him as such, when in his presence." Elliot states calmly causing Leo to jump at the mention of his last name. "And you are to address him with great respect, do you understand?" Elliot says in a serious tone causing the girl to jump off the couch.

"Yes, Daddy!" She says happily before turning to Leo. "It's nice to meet you Leo-sama!" She says curtsying to Leo before Elliot moved over and hugged her.

"Good girl...I brought cakes home, Alyss-chan took them, why don't you go ask her if you can have one." He says smiling gently as the girl grinned.

"Okay… I'll remember to say _please_ and _thank you_!" She says cheerfully, kissing Elliot's cheek. "I love you, Daddy!" She says before bouncing out of the apartment.

"Elliot…" He says sounding a little freaked out.

"What is it?" Elliot says with genuine curiosity in his voice causing Leo smiling nervously.

Leo could think of a way to say the things that were on his mind and he didn't want to say the wrong thing and have Elliot get mad at him. He simply stared at Elliot trying to think back over the time he spent with his master and Elliot didn't even seem remotely interested in the girls at school. Elliot seemed to catch on to what the young man was thinking because he chuckled.

"It's nothing like that, Leo. I found Cordelia unconscious in an alley way about a year and a half ago. I called the police but they couldn't find anyone missing their child and they were going to send her to an orphanage. I didn't want that and I took her in… The girls had taken a liking to her so I adopted her a few months back. She's been with me about a year or so. And she is also twice the age she looks..." Elliot explains with a slight smile on his face.

"Ah…I see." Leo says with a relief in his voice. "Sorry for assuming such things." He says causing Elliot to laugh.

"I'm not telling you about what happened to me back then, so, you're going to assume things. It's only natural." He says amusedly and Leo frowned.

"Forgive me, for assuming things, but she did have an uncanny resemblance to you." Leo states coldly before looking away from the man. 'I don't understand… He's right in front of me. My master's alive but it's different, isn't it? I can't put my finger on why he's different.' Leo thought with a frown, thinking that this person might not be Elliot after all.

"Say, Leo…" Elliot says softly causing Leo to flinch. "How are Vincent and Gilbert?" He asks softly as if he was making small talk.

"You haven't gone to see them?" Leo asks softly. 'I know he couldn't go see Vincent because we're hiding but Gilbert's still at Pandora.' He thought looking down at his glass of tea.

"I would but… Well, I'm supposed to be dead, right? So, I can't just walk into Pandora and say can I see Gilbert and Vincent Nightray. I'd not only be arrested for being Elliot Nightray but I'd be experimented on, by them, because I _somehow_ cheated death. I'm not interested in fueling research for people like them." He says softly.

"How…" Leo says but stops when he realized he was going to ask a question. "Sorry… I said, I wouldn't ask questions." He says looking away with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"You stopped yourself so it's fine… I wouldn't have answered you, anyway." He says in a serious tone as he sipped his tea.

'He died…but he's alive, right here in front of me. _Cheated death_ he says…Why do I feel like that's a complete lie?' He thought with a slight frown. "It's not fair, you know… You could have, at least, tried to find me. I thought you were dead this whole time…" Leo says with a hurt look on his face.

"It took me about two years to be able to get back into the country. After that, I did look, but I had to be careful to avoid Pandora's men. After I found out you became Leo Baskerville…I just let it be." He says casually watching Leo glare at him.

"Why? Why did you? I…" Leo says lowering his eyes. "It doesn't matter… Knowing you, I bet you thought I was happier that way." He states in annoyance. 'I wasn't… I was miserable. I didn't show it on the outside but I was riddle with guilt and I wished I had never met Elliot. If I hadn't Elliot's family would not be dead.' Leo thought bitterly.

"I knew you weren't happy." Elliot responds casually as Leo set his cup onto the table. "But you are safer with the Baskervilles than with me." He states seriously as Leo leaned forward to look at Elliot closely.

"How can you say that? Why would you say something like that? Elliot, you wouldn't say something like that." Leo states in annoyance.

"But I did!" Elliot replies holding up his left hand, showing Leo the scar on the back of his hand and on the palm. It was between the pointer and middle finger and it looked as if it was fairly recent hadn't gotten stitches, when it obviously needed it. "In order to snap myself out of Humpty Dumpty's trance I stabbed my hand with my sword, through and through, I lost some of the movement in it because of it. I can move and hold stuff but it was enough damage to make it useless when using a sword." Elliot explains slowly with a serious look in his eyes. "I am useless in a fight. So, I avoid fights… In order to do that, I avoid Pandora and I avoided you, at least, I tried to." He says sighing.

"You're stupid for thinking that! There are people in Pandora that would protect you! I would protect you. Elliot is my master… and he is a Nightray. People would protect you!" Leo states in a harsh tone and Elliot sighed.

"I am no longer your master! And I refuse to be used for Pandora's gain! I left that life behind and I don't intend to try and get it back." Elliot states looking at Leo with a serious look. "I won't give up the Nightray name but I will be damned, if I let myself get put back into the fight of the Dukedoms, do you understand?" He continues watching Leo grit his teeth.

"I never said you had to! But what about your friends and comrades… What about them? Didn't you think we deserved to know you were alive?" Leo states harshly placing his hands onto the table.

"You're questioning me." Elliot growled.

"I don't give a damn!" Leo states with a mixture of hurt, annoyance, and sadness. He opened his mouth to say something more but someone cleared their throat causing the two to look at the Black haired, Rishima, standing in front of them.

"Rishima… is there something you needed. Were we being too loud?" Elliot says standing up from his seated position.

"Not at all. There are two humans and a chain, asking about an Elliot Nightray, down stairs. I believe that you should speak to them and get them to leave." Rishima says with amusement in her blue eyes.

"Damn it… Is it a tall black haired guy and a shrimpy blonde?" Elliot mutters covering his eyes.

"Yes, it seems today really was not your lucky day, was it?" She giggles smiling gleefully.

"No, it wasn't. Rishima can you stay here and keep an eye on him? The last thing we need is a fight to break out because, God knows, Equus is in their shadows." He states and the woman laughed.

"Of course! And that bad little chain tried to sneak into my shadow but Alyss stopped it." Rishima says with a giggle and Elliot smiled at her.

"I'll be right back then." He says glancing at Leo. "See this is what happens when I try to hold on to something of my old life." Elliot mutters walking away and Leo stood to follow him.

"Hey wait!" He states annoyed that he was being left up there alone with a woman he didn't know.

"Relax… If you go down there you will cause problems for us and Elliot. You don't want to cause Elliot trouble, right?" Rishima says calmly before Leo frowned at her. "Hey, smile, Elliot will be back once he gets rid of those three." She says pushing him down onto the couch. "Besides, we can get to know each other… Everyone's curious about Elliot's friend, Leo Baskerville." She says with a slight smirk on her lips as she watched Leo gasp at the fact she knew his name.

***Barathrum: Latin for Abyss. I chose this word as a last name because it sounded cool and it worked for a last name. It's kind of lame when you think about it but yeah… forgive me, if you find it stupid.**

****** -neesan:** **Casual Japanese noun meaning Older Sister. Onee-san is the formal form of this noun.****


	4. Chapter 4

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**Chapter 4**

"Are you sure this is the area Equus lost that person?" Gilbert says looking around the shopping district in Reviel. 'This is a huge city… He could live anywhere. Why, on earth, are we on this goose hunt?' Gilbert thought sighing as he remembered the man that they saw early that morning. 'We have no proof that it is truly Elliot, the teen said he was two years younger than Elliot, anyway. Then there was that girl with him…she called him her brother, so lovingly. They had to have known each other for more than just four years to be so close.' Gilbert thought trying to convince himself that this person was not Elliot, but simply a kid that looked like him. To get his mind off the topic, he watched his master look around the area with bright watchful eyes.

"This is the area Break said Equus lost Elliot's trail… so we should start here." Oz says casually leaning against the carriage. "What do you think, Alice, should we start asking around? If he lives here, he'd frequent the shops." He says casually.

"I don't really care… This guy was trouble back then, wasn't he? Why are we searching for him now?" Alice states in annoyance, not understanding why they were doing this.

"Elliot was not trouble! He was good kid, you stupid rabbit! How dare you talk about my little brother like that! Do you want me to put a bullet in your head?" Gilbert snaps at her causing her to flinch.

"Gil, don't be such a grouch. You've been acting all annoyed and angry all day. I know that Break's orders were a little strict but it's not like we were sent to kill him." Oz says calmly with a worried look. "We're just here to find out who this guy is and why he really visited the Nightray family's graves, right?" He says understanding why his friend was so upset. Gilbert looked at him with an apologetic look before nodding.

"It's just… If it's really Elliot, he could be in danger, not only because of the Baskervilles but because of those Dojis that keep getting in our way…" Gilbert says softly and Oz nodded in understanding.

"Break said that all we have to do is speak to the man." Oz says calmly as he grabbed Gilbert's shoulder. "But we have to find him first." He adds with a small smile on his lips. Gilbert looked at him with a depressed look before he nodded.

"I suppose, that's the first step." Gilbert says with a slight sigh as the three of them headed off into the town asking around. Most of the people they asked had said that they had never seen a teen or young adult with that description or a blonde female that had been with him. Four hours later they stopped at a tea shop for a break with little, to no, evidence that Elliot was even in the area.

"Well, this was pointless." Alice mutters in annoyance as she took a bite of the cake Oz had gotten for her.

"Maybe Elliot doesn't live in this area after all…" Oz says stirring his tea with a spoon.

"Once we're done here then we can try a few more shops and head back to Pandora. Lord knows, the civilians are getting suspicious and we can't very well tell them we're searching for a boy by the name of Elliot Nightray." Gilbert says with a small sigh as not noticing an old woman slow at their table before moving on past them. 'If we did they'd give us strange looks and ask us why we're…' Gilbert thought before he turned his attention to his master that was trying to talk to him.

"If we can't find him then there's no harm done." Oz says calmly with a slight sigh. "It's just a case of mistaken Identity." He states with a slight disappointed look on his face.

"Yeah…" Gilbert says feeling even more depressed about not finding the person than he felt when he was ordered to search for him. 'Elliot's been dead four years, what were we expecting to find.' Gilbert thought as he glanced outside of the window to see Vincent and Echo standing at an empty table and Vincent looked shocked by something the girl was saying. "Vince!" Gilbert shouts jumping to his feet before Oz did the same and gasped.

"If Vincent's here, then so is Leo!" Oz states going to move to go after the man.

"No, Oz, you stay here. I'll go talk to them… If we all go out there those damned Dojis might intervene." Gilbert says pushing the boy gently down in his seat before he quickly moved to leave. Oz reached out and grabbed his sleeve, stopping him from heading toward the door.

"We'll be watching… If there's trouble, we'll come right away." Oz states with a serious look in his eyes and Gilbert smiles.

"I know." He whispers before he left the building to approach Vincent.

"Um…Excuse me. I have a question." A woman's voice says and Oz glanced over to see a waitress with worry in her eyes.

"What is it? Can't you see we're busy?" Alice asks with a slight annoyed look causing the young woman to flinch.

"Alice…"Oz says harshly before smiling at the waitress. "What is the problem, Miss Waitress?" Oz asks politely and the girl smiled shyly at him.

"It's my Grandmother… She heard you mention an Elliot Nightray and she thinks you people are after him." She says with a small frown causing Oz's eyes to widen before he smiled charmingly.

"Then what have you come over to ask us about?" He asks and she swallowed nervously.

"I just want to know what you people want with him… The Elliot-kun, I know, is a sweet, gentle guy…and if you think he's done something wrong then you are mistaken." She says looking away ashamed for being so outspoken.

"So, you know someone that goes by the name Elliot Nightray?" Oz says glancing back at Gilbert, who was speaking calmly to Vincent outside.

"I don't know nuthin', unless you tell me why you want to speak to such a person." She says shifting nervously but she had a determined look in her eyes.

"I'm an old friend of his and that black haired guy is his older brother… We're here to see him because, it was said, he was murdered four years ago… We're here just to make sure that was or wasn't so." Oz explains calmly as the girl looked at him a bit skeptically. "Really… It's the truth, miss." He says watching her look around the room.

"Okay, but if my Grandmother asks, I was hitting on you..." She says blushing slightly as she spoke softly. "My Grandmother hate when people stick their noses into other people's business. But since you're an old friend of his... and that man was his brother, I…" She says stopping to gather her wits. "Elliot-kun, the Elliot-kun I know, works at a dress shop down the street. He doesn't seem like the type, when you speak to him, but the dress he makes… They're beyond beautiful, like works of art. He comes here once every month and buys cakes for his…" The girl says but stops as she heard her grandmother call for her. "Right, his dress shop's just down the road but it's closed today… So, he'd be at the restaurant next door to it, if not then he's in his apartment above and you'd have to knock on the door between the two shops." She says quickly before wrote down the address on an order form. "Here's his address. Don't tell him I told you… My Grandmother would be furious." She says before she ran off back to her post at the cash register.

"She was helpful…" Alice says with a slight smirk.

"Yeah and cute… Shall we go?" Oz says standing and Alice nodded as the two moved to the door and Oz gave the girl a flirty grin and waved causing the girl to blush a real bright pink. Oz then ran over to Gilbert and jump on him.

"Gil! A girl that works at the restaurant talked!" Oz says happily as Alice sighed.

"She gave us a location that our suspect lives, his work place, and another location." Alice says with a smirk on her lips as Vincent frowns.

"Then we shall take our leave then… Come Echo. Our master is waiting..." Vincent says calmly as the two walked away. "It was nice speaking to you… please give the Hatter my greetings." He says amusedly and Gilbert sighed.

"We're going to find a way…" Gilbert states. "Vincent, you know, it is not going to end well in the end if this really is Elliot." He says with a pleading look in his eyes.

"Don't worry, Nii-san*… Everything will be fine." Vincent assures before leaving and Gilbert sighs again.

"Gil… Did you tell Vincent about Elliot?" Oz questions with a curious look in his eyes but Gilbert simply shook his head.

"Vince told me… apparently he ran into a young man that looked like Elliot fifteen minutes ago. Did you get the address?" Gilbert questions watching his master grin ear to ear and hold up the piece of paper. "Then let's go…" He says as the three walked off in that direction.

__

"Rakkel-neesan!" Cordelia's voice calls cheerfully as Rakkel turned to look at the door leading toward the apartments with a slight curious look. She saw the little blonde smiling at her with a blue face causing her to let out a slight laugh.

"Oh my, what did you do?" She says laughing warmly as the girl walked behind the counter.

"Alyss-neesan gave me cake… It was a pretty blue color." Cordelia says causing Rakkel to sigh.

"That boy… Honestly." She says sighing, knowing Elliot was the one that brought the cakes home. "Let's get you cleaned up before, Elliot finds out you made a mess of yourself." She says in a motherly way as she picked the girl up and set her on the counter and grabbed a napkin. She then walked over to the sink that was behind the counter and wet the napkin. "Here we are…" She says smiling warmly as she began whipping off the girl's face. "Let's make you presentable for our customers. They'll be sad if they see such a cute little lady with a dirty face." She says with a motherly look on her face.

"Right… I'm sorry, Rakkel-neesan, thank you for cleaning my face." Cordelia says smiling brightly as she hugged Rakkel lovingly.

"It's alright, sweetie…" Rakkel says hugging her back with a happy smile on her face as she heard people enter the room. "Um… I'm sorry but we are not open right now." She calls picking Cordelia off of the counter and moving out from behind the counter to see Gilbert, Oz, and Alice. The sight of the three caused her to stop before setting Cordelia down on a stool.

"Sir, We appreciate your business but bringing your children to a bar. Tsk…Tsk…" Rishima's voice sounds from the door way that lead to the apartments above.

"We're here to ask you people about someone we're looking for… Forgive us for coming in before the store opens, Miss." Gilbert says calmly as he pulled out his Pandora badge. "I'm from Pandora… My name's Gilbert Nightray and we were told a silver haired boy, about the age of nineteen, lives in one of the apartments above and goes by the name Elliot. Is this correct?" Gilbert says with a stern look in his eyes and the women looked at him with cold eyes.

"What if he does…what did he do to get Pandora on his tail?" Rakkel says watching the three carefully as she wrapped her arm around Cordelia protectively. Cordelia looked at Rakkel confusedly but stayed quiet thinking Gilbert looked scary.

"Nothing… I-I'm the elder brother of an Elliot Nightray. He's been missing for four years… We believed him to be dead but earlier today I met a man that looked like him but one of my comrades scared him away. We have reason to believe he lives here…" Gilbert explains calmly with a sincere look in his eyes. "I just wish to speak to him to see if he is truly is my brother or if he is not. That is all we are here for... If he is not then we will leave." He says watching the girls look at each other.

"What if he is…? What will you do to him then?" Alyss says appearing behind the Gilbert and the others with a slight scowl on her lips. "Hmm…Maybe, take him away from us and torture him, perhaps? Or maybe you want to make him go back to that horrid house and take responsibility for his father's actions." She says accusingly as she walked between Alice and Oz to stand in front of Gilbert. "I don't think we'd like that very much because, you see, our Elliot is very important to us. He's our dear brother…He's very beloved to us and Cordelia here." She says walking past Gilbert and sitting on the stool beside Cordelia. "And besides he's done nothing wrong… Other than letting someone manipulate him and losing himself to their evil." She says coldly as Cordelia looked at her with curious eyes.

"We just wish to speak to Elliot and then we will leave. We're no danger to him…" Oz says with a small frown. 'Why are they being so defensive?' He thought looking at the little girl, who was staring at him with an innocent intrigued look. He walked closer to Alyss and the girl's eyes hardened. "I used to be one of Elliot's friends… I was really happy to see him alive." Oz says softly watching the girl look away from him but the little girl leaned forward.

"Say, how old are you, Mr.?" Cordelia asks Oz and he smiled shyly.

"Well, I look young but I'm actually only twenty-nine years old." He says with a slight shy look on his face and Cordelia frowns.

"You're short." She says causing Oz to flinch and laugh nervously.

"I am?" He says feeling a little annoyed a four year old had told him he was short.

"Elliot told us about a short blonde boy, right?" Alyss says with a slight amused look before Oz smiled happily.

"He did." Oz says with a happy look on his face.

"You want to speak to Daddy?" Cordelia asks with a curious look as she jumped off of the stool. Oz looked at her for a moment before nodding and she pouted. "Well you can't!" She states pointing at Oz. "A shrimp, like you, has no right talking to my Daddy… Besides he's busy! He has a friend over…Daddy never brings friends over. So you have to come back later… I don't care if Daddy did tell us about you." She says with a serious look as she placed her hand on her hips. The three girls looked at her with a shocked look before they started to giggle.

"Oh my…" Rakkel says laughing warmly as she moved forward and picked the girl up.

"Cor-chan's got Elliot's mouth already." Rishima says with a large grin on her face as Alyss smiled at her.

"Forgive Cordelia, Nightray-sama. She is taking after Elliot in the mouth department." Rakkel says with a small smile on her lips. "But what she said is true… Elliot is in a business meeting, most likely about expanding the dress shop to give them more space to place mannequins." She says placing her hand together with a large smile on her face.

"We can wait… We really want to speak to him." Gilbert says with a gentle smile knowing that they would be able to see the man if they waited.

"Daddy doesn't want to talk to you people… Daddy would have come to you if he wanted to speak to you." Cordelia mutters with a frown and Alyss giggled.

"Hey, you stupid brat…" Alice states in annoyance to Cordelia. "We've been looking all day for this bastard. How dare you, tell me we cannot see him." She yells at Cordelia who scowled at her.

"I'm not afraid of you! You're just some overgrown bully!" Cordelia says sticking her tongue out of her mouth. Oz looked at Cordelia with a slight worried look because Alice looked like she was about to beat her up before he moved forward.

"Alice, please…" Oz says before he knelt down in front of Cordelia. "Hey, my name's Oz Vessalius... What's your name?" Oz says smiling cheerfully at Cordelia and the girl stared at him with an emotionless look.

"None of your business…Daddy told me not to talk to strangers." Cordelia says with a small pout forming on his lips. Oz simply laughed at her words before tilting his head to the side and glancing at Rakkel, who Gilbert was still talking to, and he noted the black haired girl had disappeared. He also took note that Alyss was watching him with cautious eyes and he smiled at her before looking back at Cordelia.

"But I'm not a stranger, I'm Elliot's friend." Oz says happily pointing to his self but Cordelia frowned at him.

"But you're a stranger to me and I am a stranger to you." She says with a scowl on her face before she turned away. "I'm not telling you my name and I don't care to know you, until Daddy says it's safe." She states not looking at Oz.

"Well, your Daddy taught you well." Oz says with a slight sad look.

"Yep…" Cordelia says smiling proudly turning back to Oz.

"Is your Daddy here? Can I talk to him?" Oz says with a huge grin on his face trying to win the girl over.

"Nope… Daddy's with his friend, so, get out of my face." She states causing Oz to gape at her.

"Cordelia's a little sweetie…as long as it doesn't have to do with her Daddy Elliot." Efa says appearing in front of Alice and Oz with his hair wavy and unbraided, falling over his shoulders in a gently wave.

"Who are you?" Oz questions with a slight smile on his face because he was looking at a pretty girl and Efa frowned slightly.

"Oh, how rude of me… I never introduced myself when Brother Elliot and I were at the cemetery. I am Efa Barathrum… This little one is Cordelia Nightray. She's Elliot's daughter." Efa says causing Oz to stare at him with wide eyes.

"_Daughter?_ Are you serious? Gil, Elliot has a daughter!" Oz shouts in a panic.

"What?" Gilbert questions curiously, looking at Oz with a surprised look as they heard the door, off to the side, open.

"Rakkel, Rishima told me that there were some people here to visit me?" Elliot says leaning in the door way with a slight annoyed look on his face.

"Yes, they're from Pandora… I didn't know you knew members from Pandora." She says smiling warmly and Elliot smirked.

"Tsk… I used to know members but that was before I realized the truth. This person isn't just a Pandora Member, you know." Elliot says causing Rakkel smile at him happily.

"Yes… I have concluded that on my own but would you care to introduce him to us." Rakkel says with a teasing look on her face.

"This here is Duke Gilbert Nightray." Elliot says walking out of the door way and Gilbert frowned. "As you can see I lied about my face... Punish me if you wish." Elliot says casually as he walked toward Oz and Alice. He knelt down beside Cordelia and held his arms out. Cordelia instantly ran and jumped up, into Elliot's arms and he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up. "This is my daughter… Cordelia Nightray; she's eight years old. She is a sweet little girl, is she not?" Elliot states with a serious look in his eyes. "May I ask, why have you come, Duke Nightray?" He says calmly.

"Elliot... Why are you talking like that? It's me, Gilbert." Gilbert says with a slight frown and Elliot frowns.

"Yes, I know, my Lord." Elliot says calmly with a knowing look and Gilbert frowned.

"That's not what he meant, Elliot." Oz says stepping forward. "I know it's been four years but you know Gilbert. Why are you being so formal? You just admitted being Elliot Nightray." Oz says with a small frown.

"So I did, but what is it to you people, who I am? Do you intend to arrest me? If you do, then by all means arrest me and leave this family at peace." Elliot says coldly and Cordelia wrapped her arms around his neck and Gilbert frowned.

"How can you talk about such things in front of that child?" Gilbert says with a bit of a hurt voice and Cordelia simply snuggled into Elliot's neck.

"He's going to take Daddy away?" Cordelia says with a sad voice and Elliot held her close.

"Not at all… Daddy was just telling them to do whatever they came here to do and leave. I do not know why they are here." Elliot states calmly and Cordelia smiles at him. "Why don't you go upstairs with Alyss-chan, Cordelia?" He says softly kissing the girl's forehead.

"Kay… I love you, Daddy." Cordelia says as Elliot set her down on the ground and she moved over to Alyss, who stood and walked away with her.

"Should I ask why you have come?" Elliot says calmly. "And don't say because I want to know who you are and how you survived." He says coldly as he tilted his head to the side.

"We came to confirm that you were, indeed, Elliot Nightray. And even though it's been four years we're shocked to see it to be true." Gilbert says softly staring at Elliot with mixed emotions in his eyes.

"Yeah… Is that all? If so, please leave." Elliot says looking away from them.

"Why? You should come with us!" Oz states moving forward to Elliot but Elliot sighed.

"I've got business to attend to… There are a couple dresses I need to finish and measurements to make for the next ones." Elliot states coolly as he watched Oz stare at him in shock. "What the hell is that look for?" He questions in annoyance before he looked back at Efa. "Is Zelda still sorting the roses?" He asks and Efa nodded with a bright smile on his face. "Why don't you go help her…? You don't need to listen to this conversation." He says calmly and Efa frowned slightly.

"But Elliot…" He says crossing his arms.

"Hey, you want to be a girl then you're going to be a girl. Go sort flowers." Elliot says causing Efa to pout and leave.

"Would you like to take them to your apartment? Your guest left with his associates a few moments ago." Rakkel says with a playful look on her face and Elliot frowned at her words.

"Let's hope he never comes back…" Elliot states with an annoyed look on his face.

"The deal didn't go through then?" Rakkel asks with a slight frown and Elliot glanced at her curiously. "Pity…" She says with a frown before she crossed her arms.

"Right…Let's not go upstairs. Is it alright if we take a table in the back? The bar shouldn't be too busy, since it's Sunday, right?" He says with a curious look on his face and Rakkel smiles brightly.

"Of course, you can do so, Elliot." Rakkel says warmly.

"Thanks." Elliot says hugging her. "You girls are too good to me." He says kissing her cheek causing her to smirk.

"Well, Elliot's good to us as well." She says warmly as Elliot motioned the three to follow him to a table in the back.

***Niisan: Casual Japanese noun meaning Older Brother; Onii-san is the formal form of this noun.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**Chapter 5**

_"How interesting… He refused to come with you?" Break questions watching Gilbert sulk and Oz nod. "Did you tell him that we did not intend to charge him for the Nightray family murders?" He questions as he heard Alice scoff in her corner, where she was devouring food as if she hadn't eaten for months._

_"We assured him that he wasn't going to be charged… He simply refused to go." Gilbert says with a shake to his head._

_"Did he give a reason?" He asks curiously._

_"He said, if we weren't planning on arresting him then he wouldn't go of his free will, because he has work to do for the dress shop tomorrow and he needed to feed Cordelia-chan, give her a bath, and put her to bed." Oz says with a look of disbelief in his eyes._

_"Then maybe this was not our Elliot. He is dead after all…" Sharon says calmly not wanting to depress her company any more than they already were but it had to be said._

_"He had the Nightray family heir loom. He had Elliot's sword! The one Father had given it to him... The one his body disappeared with!" Gilbert states in annoyance._

_"Hmm…Is that so? Then maybe the boy did survive." Break says in amusement as Gilbert glared at him._

_"What's that supposed to mean?" Oz says with a confused look on his face._

_"Well, we found papers in the Nightray house, hidden in a vault. Apparently the Duke, before his death, had a team of Pandora members search the wreckage of Isla Yura's manor in order to obtain his daughter, son, and wife's bodies. The two women were found, severely charred but them none-the-less. Elliot Nightray's body, on the other hand, was never found... and neither was his sword." Break explains and Oz gasped._

_"Gil, did you know that they didn't find Elliot's body?" Oz says staring wide eyed at Gilbert and the man hesitantly nodded._

_"I did but I figured his body dropped into the abyss… Elliot was the first documented person to ever reject their chain. We didn't know what would happen, other than the chain and the contractor's death." Gilbert states softly, feeling his heart sting at the memory of his brother's death._

_"He would have died either way…or at least that is what we believed." Break says with an amused look on his face. "Maybe we should have some people watch our little head hunter for a while… Maybe we'll see something interesting." He says with a slight amused look. _

_"Enough about that sad subject, we have something more important to discuss. There's been a string of young women found dead in the area of Reviel as of late. The strange thing is the women seemed to have been skinned alive and left to bleed to death. It doesn't seem like something a chain would do but carved into their abdominal region were the incuse of the abyss. Since that is involved we're going to look into it. Maybe there will be connections between our little friend's appearance." Sharon says calmly looking at her party with serious eyes._

"As if… I am nothing like that beast that's killing those girls… I would never hurt a lady, let alone a group of them." Elliot whispered as he watched the reflection of Break and the other's in the reflection of a mirror, which was in his bed room. 'But they aren't too far off from it… I just hope the others are alright without Nekomusume* and I, there with them. Of course Teke** is with them but with his temper when he's Rebirth she might not help them.' Elliot thought with a slight frown as he looked at Gilbert's pained eyes. "You shouldn't be so pained, Gilbert. I don't understand why? Maybe it's because of the poor girls that suffered." Elliot says softly watching the three continue talking about the newest series of murders.

"You know you love the fact he's in pain…You thrive on that pain and suffering in the human heart, that is what you were created to cause." A woman's voice whispered as arms wrapped around Elliot's neck.

"Kijo***…" Elliot whispered letting the reflection of his comrades disappear and his reflection returned. "The others are able to sense you, you know…" He whispered as he felt lips on his neck.

"None of them are here and Alyss is none the wiser." The woman says with a soft chuckle in her voice and Elliot glared at his reflection with disgust and hate. "Don't look so upset…You know very well that they all are trying to obtain you, so they can find out the truth. That Leo Baskerville too…He's the worst of them all. He'll get the information he needs and then use you to obtain the power of the abyss and leave you alone to die again…just like last time." She whispers sliding her fingers down to the buttons on Elliot's shirt. "But I'm here this time, so, you won't be used and you won't die again… After the power the Dark intention gave you, there's nothing you cannot do." She whispered and Elliot closed his eyes.

"Power, I did not wish for…Life, I did not wish for…Things that I did not wish for have no meaning to me. I did not wish to become this…I just wanted to rot away and disappear." Elliot says coldly as he felt the buttons on his shirt pop open. "You know that I did not wish for any of this." He states softly.

"Yes, but now that you have it… You cannot lose it." She says with a giggle pulling Elliot back so he lay on his back. "And, now, you're my property… no one else's." She states hovering over top of Elliot.

**_0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0_**

"I hope Cor-chan doesn't have another nightmare…" A girl with bright red hair says as she walked down the empty street with the other three as she looked at the silver haired Doji, Birth, who looked a head coldly.

"Focus on our mission, Life. That Dark intention has another one of its cretins roaming this city and we will not just sit back and watch Pandora take care of it… We have to take it out before it takes us out." Birth says coldly.

"But isn't Elliot supposed to do this? Why didn't you send him, Zelda?" A brown haired girl says with a slight frown on her lips as she adjusted her tube top.

"You are to call me _Birth _when I am in this form and you are to answer to Rebirth when in that form. This is what our master wishes…" Birth says coldly and the brown haired girl frowned.

"Right… I'm sorry. I'm still not used to it…It's been a while since we last changed." Rebirth says frowning as she looked to the side with her dark green eyes shimmering with sadness. 'I also don't like to be called this name…' she thought as she felt a hand on her head. She looked up and saw the Blonde haired woman, Death, smiling down at her.

"Big brother would be angry if he found out his beloved little sister was sad about her name." Death says with a knowing smile on her lips causing Rebirth to nod.

"I'm sorry, Ra-Death." Rebirth says softly as she glanced up at Birth. "Birth… is it close?" She asks and the woman scowled.

"It just disappeared from even my senses… Which means it's planning on attacking something soon or it's already gotten to it." Birth says softly with a small sigh.

"It's been doing this for weeks… It's simply horrible." Death says softly placing her hand onto her cheek.

"We should have taken it down the first day but Elliot told us to let Pandora Organization handle it. But Pandora's worthless…" Life states with a scoff as she crossed her arms. "They're chasing after Elliot, when such a powerful chain is here terrorizing the town's women." She adds in an annoyed tone as Birth laughed.

"All men are like that... They'd rather chase power than save innocent lives." Birth says with hate in her eyes and Death sighs.

"It's sad you won't open up to men at all, Birth. There are some decent ones out there, you know." Death says with a small sigh and Birth snorted.

"You're some woman…to still be trusting of men after what happened to you. I'd be murdering the bastard that did it to me in a heartbeat." Birth says with a cold hearted glare in her eyes.

"Love is a wonderful but blind thing, Birth." Life says with a slight laugh causing Rebirth to sigh.

"It's not nice to make fun of people…" Rebirth says softly as she glanced off to the side at the building they were standing in front of. 'Elliot can see the chain's powers even when they are hiding like this… we are the ones that are worthless. Why did he not come out on this one? I know he's being watched by that damn horse but seriously.' She thought watching a young woman appear in front of her from inside the building. Rebirth tensed, sensing an inhuman aura in the air. 'It's the girl from the cake shop Elliot always goes to…But something's weird?' She thought glancing at the others who looked at the woman with worry. 'Am I the only one that senses this? Of course I am.' She thought glancing at Birth, who had a steady stare directed at the woman but he could tell she was worried about the woman.

"Miss, are you alright?" Death says watching the girl limp towards them and Rebirth noticed something strange about the way her skin looked. She scowled and pulled his right hand back, hiding it so he could summon a one-handed scythe.

"Please, help me…" She says shaking as she walked forward towards Birth.

"What happened, Miss? Are you hurt?" Birth questions softly knowing if she spoke harshly she'd cause harm.

'What is this thing? It's on the tip of my tongue. Elliot's told me about it before…why can I not remember the name he'd given it?' Rebirth thought watching tears spill out of the girl's eyes.

"I was sleeping and I heard a noise…So, I went down, to the shop, to see what it was and a monster killed my grandmother, it was horrible." The woman says with pained eyes. "I'm so scared." She says as Rebirth pulled her left hand behind her back and a second scythe appeared.

"Please calm yourself…You're safe with us, right Efa?" Life says smiling at her with reassurance as she motioned for Rebirth to step forward because she was closer to the girl's age.

"Y-Yeah…" Rebirth says sensing the others tense because they saw her weapons were drawn.

"Y-You're so sweet. I'm Nikku Suishima." The girl whispers gently causing Rebirth to gasp slightly.

'That's it…I remember it, _Nikusui_****, the chain that devours the skin of its victims and sometimes take their form.' Rebirth thought with serious eyes before they softened. "I'm truly glad you're okay, Miss Nikku, but I must say… for someone, who just witnessed a family member get murdered you sure are calm…You must be in shock, correct? Please sit down and we will contact Pandora." She says calmly not offering her hand in comfort or a smile to ease any pain. The girl simply smiled at her and nodded. 'This thing is just like the other creatures from the dark-intention, they don't have the ability to act like humans. They stalk their prey and observe them until they feel they understand human emotion but they do not and will never understand human emotion. That's why they're imperfect… they're simply copies of the Doji.' She thought feeling a stab of self-loathing in her chest as she glared at the woman in front of them.

"Efa…What do you think you're doing? Trying to scare this girl to death?" Life hisses grabbing her arms that were still behind her back.

"Nothing…" Rebirth muttered darkly and Life scowls at her.

"Why are you being a jerk?" Life growls in annoyance.

"It's not human…" Rebirth says coldly and Life smacked her slightly.

"That's so rude! Elliot's rubbing off on you too! You shouldn't let that reject's ways of acting rub off. The only reason he's alive is because he pulled Alyss out of the abyss. We all have to deal with him because of that." Life whispers harshly pushing her forward towards the girl. "Go comfort her… She seemed taken to you." She says harshly.

"No…" Rebirth says pushing Life back. "None of you ever believe me when I say something. And you also forget that I also was a reject…Just like Elliot! I'm telling you that this thing is not human." She whispers harshly watching Life stare at her insulted. He then looked at the others who were staring the two with a serious faces. 'They all are unbelievable.' She thought turning away. "Fine…Comfort her, hold her tight, and believe every word that comes out of her mouth. You guys can get eaten for all I care!" Rebirth says moving her hands from behind her back and she turned and walked away from them. "Be sure to not touch her hands or mouth though." She warns as she disappeared into the night. 'They are always nice and kind but in reality they hate even me.' She thought in annoyance.

**_0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0_**

'That damn horse ran for the hills the minute Kijo appeared.' Elliot thought as he flinched because of the three long cuts that were across his chest, still stinging from when they were given to him. He let out a slight sigh before he slowly began cleaning them out listening for any sounds that would signify that someone was awake in the house. When he was about to wrap the cuts he heard the handle to the door jingle and then he heard the soft footsteps of his daughter.

"Daddy…" Cordelia's voice calls cracking with the sound of fear as Elliot shifted pulling his shirt closed to hide the cuts from her.

"Cordelia… What's wrong?" He asks watching the girl tear up but try really hard not to and Elliot could see it. He could see just by looking into her eyes that she knew what happened. 'She's sensitive to all things related to the abyss.' He thought patting the side of the bed watching her quickly move forward. She crawled up onto the bed and curled up in Elliot's lap still fighting sobs that escaped her lips.

"Dad-_dee_." She says sobbing slightly, burying her face in his chest. "I… make them go away." She whimpers as Elliot smiled understanding what she meant, wrapped his arms around her.

"Always…" He whispers softly stroking her hair but all she did was sob harder. "It is okay, Cor-chan… Daddy's right here." He says softly listening to the girl's sobs that caused her whole body to tremble. "Did Cor-chan have a nightmare?" He whispers feeling the trembling grow worse as she nodded. "Ah, do you want Daddy to hum Cor-chan a lullaby to make the bad thoughts go away." He says adjusting her so she was cradled in his arms comfortingly.

"Will…Will Daddy hum _Statice_ for me?" She whispers softly sniffling and rubbing her eyes.

"Of course…" He whispers softly before he started humming softly watching the girl curl into him again, sniffling but no longer trembling. While he hummed the song, he could not help but remember all the time he had spent with Leo, it made him sad to remember it all but he smiled watching Cordelia close her eyes. 'I want to take care of Leo, like he took care of me, he blamed himself for what happened but it was not his fault…He was tricked by the chain. He was tricked by his past selves. He changed a lot in these past four years, he's taller, his hair is longer but his bangs are cut, he wears nothing but black, and not to mention he's the freaking head of the Baskerville family.' He thought feeling a bit depressed that he wasn't here to experience any of the things that happened. The things he did, these past four years, are impossible to describe but when he saw me…' Elliot thought sighing as he sensed Cordelia was a sleep. 'When he saw me, to me, it was like none of that ever happened and I saw the scared fifteen year-old that I had left behind.' He thought picking Cordelia up and gently setting her on the bed, pulling the covers over her. "I will save Leo though…I won't let him become like the others. Humpty Dumpty doesn't need to be reborn." He whispers leaning forward and kissing Cordelia's forehead. He then pulled back and sat on the floor to finish cleaning his wound.

"You're a stubborn person, Elliot." Alyss's voice sounds softly as Elliot flinched.

"I keep forgetting you have a key to my apartment." He says softly not even bothering to hide the cuts from her as he continued to clean them.

"If that Kijo keeps hurting you, why don't you destroy it…You're more powerful than it." She questions but Elliot stayed silent causing Alyss to sigh and walk over to him and kneel in front of him to look at the cuts. "They're pretty deep. What did you say to her this time?" Alyss asks reaching out and running her finger down one of them causing it to disappear.

"She told me I belonged to her and I responded 'The only one I belong to is Alyss.'" He says smiling watching her lips quirk in amusement.

"Liar… You stood up for that Baskerville kid, right?" She says going to run her finger over the second cut but Elliot stopped her.

"Yes and its fine…They can heal on their own, Alyss. Save your energy…She'll just come back and do it again tomorrow." Elliot says kissing Alyss's hand. "But your kindness is more than I deserve." He says softly causing Alyss to smile gleefully.

"I love when you talk like a freaking knight." She says with a slight giggle pulling her hand away. "But…" She says swiping her finger down the second cut causing it to disappear. "You're my knight now, not Kijo's or the Dark intentions. It's my duty to make sure my knights are not hurt." She says with a wink. "Beside my littlest knight has stopped by and stated that the girls ran into a nasty flesh sucker. And sent him away because he knew it was one…They may be back late tonight." Alyss says with a slight sigh and Elliot frowns slightly.

"I had a feeling that they were going to do that…They always get into fights at the wrong times." Elliot says sighing as Alyss made the last cut disappear.

"I do not know why all of my creations do not have common sense." She says with a slight sigh and Elliot smiled.

"They do have common sense but they just don't use it." He says patting her head causing her to go red in the face.

"Don't do that!" She says harshly throwing her hands up causing Elliot to chuckle slightly. "Only Jack is allowed to do that." She says in a pouting voice and Elliot nodded.

"Right… Sorry, I forgot." He says sighing slightly. "Is Efa still here?" He asks softly and Alyss nods.

"I'll send him over." She says yawning slightly.

"Then get yourself to bed, princess." He says watching her smile and walk out of the room. He then sighed and touched his chest. 'I never thought that the intention to the Abyss could be kind like that… I was told by father that it was a frightening creature that will not hesitate to kill you. Sure she may have a temper but when the two of us go at it she seems to enjoy the fight. It's been a couple of months since that last time we had one though.' He thought smiling at the memories as the brought him back to him and Leo when they had spent their days together. 'I never apologized for upsetting him then.' He thought feeling up set at the thoughts. 'Not that it really matters anymore. I died shortly after so I reaped what I sowed.' He thought staring at the ceiling, till he sensed someone at the door of his bed room. "Efa…You know you can come in." He says listening to the blonde haired boy walk into the room, his long hair spiraled around him and he eyes were filled with sadness.

"Are you angry at me too?" He asks softly watching Elliot stare at him. "I know shouldn't have left them but they were making me angry." Efa says softly as he walked over to Elliot and curled up beside him.

"What did they say that got you so angry at them?" Elliot says watching Efa sit there with his head resting on his knees and his arms around his legs.

"I'm sorry, Nii-chan… I know you told me I had to protect the girls but they were calling you a 'reject' and told me the only reason you're alive is because you freed Alyss and it was your reward. Elliot's important to us…Alyss and I. He saved me from being swallowed by the darkness and he saved Alyss from the dark intention. He's our precious family member…My big brother and Alyss's knight. Without him we'd no longer exist but the others don't understand that." Efa says not moving or even breathing as Elliot frowned at him.

"That may be how you feel but there is no denying that I am a reject and that the only reason that I am here is because it is a reward from Alyss. I'm very grateful for Alyss's kindness… It's more than I could have ever asked for." He says leaning his head back against the bed. 'Even if it causes Leo, Vincent, Gilbert, Oz, and the others grief...' He thought closing his eyes.

"But, the way that is made to sound, it's like you have no purpose to live." Efa says in an upset tone before looking at Cordelia, realizing she was in there. "Sorry." He whispers and Elliot chuckles.

"She sleeps like a rock once she's sleeping…" He says with an amused look on his face as he put his hand onto Efa's head. "And it may be true that no one has given me a reason to live but that just means I get to write my own fate this time. I do not care what the orders of the Dark intention are…nor do I care what the Doji think of me. My life is going to be played out for me by me. I will protect who I want to protect and I will hurt whomever I want to hurt. Even if I end up dying again because I disobey, I will live to please no one but myself." He says with a proud look on his face. 'That's the real reason why I refused to go with Gilbert and Oz.' He thought ruffling Efa's hair slightly.

"You know, your love life's going to suck if all you do is please yourself." Efa says softly causing Elliot to blush in embarrassment.

"When did children become so vulgar? Big brother's gonna have to teach you proper etiquette!" Elliot says pulling on Efa's face in annoyance.

"Ah…I'm shorry dhat wash uncalled for. Please have mer-cy…" Efa whines in pain as Elliot continued to pull on his cheeks.

"Whatever." Elliot states letting go of the teens cheeks with a slight scowl on his lips before glancing up at Cordelia's sleeping form.

"Cordelia always sleeps so peacefully around her violent Daddy…How is it she can be so sweet while you are so mean?" Efa says rubbing his cheek with a small pout.

"She needs her sleep." Elliot states as if it were an obvious answer.

"Sleep sounds nice right about now…" Efa says with a sight sigh.

"Going to bed?" Elliot says watching the teen stand.

"Yeah…I'm going to bed before the others come back and try to beat me up for leaving." He says calmly before he left Elliot's room. Elliot simply stood and climbed onto his bed. He patted Cordelia's head and whispered 'sweet dreams' to her before closing his eyes, not even bothering to cover up in the covers.

**_Note: Yes, I am using spirits and demons from Japanese Mythology for my OC Chains._**

***Nekomusume: a cat in the form of a girl.**

**** Teke-Teke: (Elliot only says Teke because it's a nickname)** **a beautiful young girl with no lower body; carries a scythe**

*****Kijo: A witch or ogress in Japanese mythology.**

******Nikusui: ****a monster that appears as a young woman and sucks all of the flesh off of its victim's body.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**Chapter 6**

"Zwei… I want to go see that person again." Leo says staring out of the window of the town house that was an abandoned Nightray home. "I want to double check to see if it is him or not." He says shifting so he could look at the woman, who was sitting on couch playing with her hair.

"Acknowledged... But Vincent-sama said that the Hatter has the black knight watching him still. You would be putting yourself in danger, my Lord." She says standing and moving over to him. "It is best we wait for Vincent to return from the business you asked of him." She says standing beside his chair respectfully. Leo just hummed out in disappointment knowing what Vincent's answer would be as he remembered what had happened, the week before, when Vincent retrieved Leo from Elliot's apartment.

_"I'll be right back then." Elliot says glancing at Leo with a solemn look. "See this is what happens when I try to hold on to something of my old life." Elliot mutters walking away and Leo stood to follow him._

_'What does he mean by that?' Leo thought going to follow Elliot but the door shut its self. "Hey wait!" He states annoyed that he was being left up there alone with a woman he didn't know. 'Is he crazy? I cannot believe he just ignored my questions and left!' Leo thought fighting his annoyance away._

_"Relax… If you go down there, you will cause problems for us and Elliot. You don't want to cause Elliot trouble, right?" Rishima says calmly causing Leo to frown at her. "Hey, smile, Elliot will be back once he gets rid of those three." She says pushing him down onto the couch. "Besides, we can get to know each other… Everyone's curious about Elliot's friend, Leo Baskerville." She says with a slight smirk on her lips. Leo gasped at her words wondering how she found out as he stared at her._

_"I'm afraid we haven't met, how do you know my name?" Leo says trying to sound polite but he was really pissed off._

_"That's a secret! But Elliot Nightray's our little secret, too. After all we owe him a lot for saving our Alyss… Damn bastard got lucky, I say. He should have just stayed in the dark… and rotted away." Rishima says in a dark tone as Leo scowled._

_"How dare you, say such things, about him! Do you even know who I am? You make me sick." Leo growls in anger that she was bad mouthing his master, even though he had doubts about that person being Elliot._

_"Oh, is there something special about you, Elliot's former servant boy…?" Rishima says with a challenging look in her eyes._

_"I'm Elliot's friend…not just his 'servant boy'. And you know nothing about my master or what he went through. Don't, you, mock him!" Leo states glaring at her and she shrugged._

_"I'll mock him as much as I want. He's not some noble gentleman of society's privileged anymore. He's just a lowly commoner that has no interest in rising in rank." Rishima states with a slight smirk on her face._

_"I don't care about that… If Elliot wants to live this way then he can! I just want my friend back!" Leo shouts startling Rishima slightly before she stared at him with hardened eyes, as if she was trying to see a lie or deceit. When she didn't see any she turned away with an annoyed look._

_"It's been four years since you two have been separated! And you want to be friends with him again?" Rishima questions with an annoyed tone._

_"If this person truly is Elliot Nightray, then yes I do!" Leo states with a serious but gentle look in his eyes. 'I want to protect Elliot this time around; I will do everything in my power to keep him alive. I'll destroy everything to stay with him; even if I cause him harm again I will end myself.' He thought as Rishima scoffed._

_"If he found out what you were planning on doing then he'd really hate you." Rishima states coldly._

_"I have no idea what you are talking about am simply living day to day with my subordinates... I simply wish for my old friend's company." Leo states calmly, hiding his rage, standing up from the couch with trembling eyes, as he turned away from her. 'Elliot wouldn't hate me...He'd get angry but he'd come right back and he'd help me. Elliot would understand what's going on. All I have to do is tell him why I am doing this… He'd understand my sense of justice...He'll tell me it's-' Leo thought, glaring at the ground, as he realized what he was, foolishly, thinking. "What do you know about him anyway? I've known him longer than four years." Leo shouts squeezing his eyes shut._

_"My, My… Look what you have done. You've angered my master…" Vincent's voice says as Leo turned toward the window to see Vincent and Zwei standing in the room. "Zwei… would you bind her so she doesn't try to harm our master any further." He says waving his hand toward the silent silver haired girl._

_"Harm him? How insulting, I haven't touched him, nor do I intend to!" Rishima states in annoyance before Zwei bound her with Doldum, silencing her._

_"Now…Now…A pretty lady such as your self should not be rude to one's lords." Vincent says calmly walking forward and placing his hand on Leo's shoulder. "Master, we should return home quickly." Vincent says calmly with a gentlemanly smile._

_"I know…but I want to finish talking to Elliot!" He says looking at Vincent with pleading eyes._

_"What on earth do you mean, My Lord? Elliot is dead; he's been dead for four years." Vincent says as Leo turned around and faced him._

_"There a person living here that looks exactly like Elliot. Exactly! He told me that he was Elliot Nightray! He knows things about Elliot's death that were kept secret." Leo says in a serious way as Vincent frowned._

_"My brother is dead, My Lord, he was obviously lying to you. We both saw his body without a pulse… I spoke to him at his last breath." Vincent says softly giving the teen's shoulder a slight squeeze._

_"B-But…He looks like Elliot and-and our thing may have worked. She might have heard us; we could prepare it a second time and use it to obtain her." Leo says with a slight frown on his face as he was pulled toward the window._

_"If she heard us, I wouldn't be here right now, My Lord." Vincent reminds causing Leo to frown at him as Rishima let out a growl causing them to stop._

_"You people are foolish…" Rishima growled in a low and some-what pained voice._

_"My…My…Someone, other than My Lord, can speak while under Doldum's control, how interesting…" Vincent says with a slight smirk on his lips as he watched Rishima struggle against the binds around her body. "Why do you say we are foolish…My Lady?" He questions watching the girl smile at him knowingly._

_"He is Elliot Nightray… His sword and birthmark prove it. You just do not believe it. I swear on my life that he is Elliot Nightray." She states and Leo frowned slightly wondering why the girl who was being rude to him was saying such hopeful things to him._

_"If he was Elliot Nightray, wouldn't he have gone to the Manor or Pandora to turn himself in? He is the head hunter, after all." Vincent says not noticing Leo flinch at the mention on the old title._

_'Elliot wouldn't turn himself in because he seriously believed that he was protecting me by killing them.' Leo thought lowering his eyes to the ground. "He didn't get back into the country until two years after the incident…I'm sure he wasn't worried about turning himself in." He whispered sensing Vincent glance down at him._

_"If you weren't so power hungry, he'd have come back to you two years ago!" Rishima shouts glaring at them. "He has no need for power hungry men like you two…Just get out of here!" She shouts watching the three leave._

'_Power hungry_… Is that what I seem like?' Leo thought, staring out the window with a thoughtful look on his face. 'I wonder if I were to tell Elliot about my plans to destroy the intention, would he help me in my quest to destroy her.' He thought in a somber way. He thought about how noble Elliot was and how different the teen was from his other family members, truthfully, was glad Elliot's family was gone but not Elliot, he felt that the teen didn't deserve anything that had happened to him. 'He could have still been with his family, if he never had met me. I will destroy the intention and then myself.' He thought closing his eyes ignoring the lights that were suddenly giving him a headache.

"My Lord, Vincent-sama just entered the building…Shall I tell him your request?" Zwei asks as Leo nodded.

"Please do…" He says listening to the girl leave the room. 'None of that matters now, though, not until I prove or disprove that this person is in fact _my_ Elliot. And when I do, I will either kill the imposter or ask him to be with me in my quest.' He thought running his hand through his hair. His bangs were getting long again and he was slightly annoyed by the thought. 'Elliot didn't even say anything about my hair being cut or about me missing my glasses… Well, they had been lost long ago.' He thought with a small frown at his foolish thoughts. "He's still just a jerk…" Leo muttered sighing at his own thoughts.

"My Lord…" Vincent says calmly appearing in the door way as Leo stood with an emotionless look in his eyes, waiting for Vincent's response to his request. "Zwei says you wish to see the person that claimed to be Elliot again. Shall we go enjoy some tea beforehand?" He asks casually and Leo frowns.

'That's your way of saying _no_…' Leo thought sighing before he nodded. "Very well…" He says softly as he sat back down onto the chair and put his head against the window listening to Vincent leave the room.

**_0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0_**

"You all look horrible…" Alyss says with a slight frown on her lips as she watched Elliot bandage Rishima's arm that looked as if the flesh had been ripped off.

"It's our own fault…We should have trusted Efa's judgment but we did not and now we are suffering the consequences." Zelda states calmly putting a cigarette into her mouth and lighting it.

"Daddy says that's a yucky stick, neesan." Cordelia says childishly placing a cup of tea in front of Zelda with innocent eyes.

"I know, Cor-chan." Zelda says calmly as there was a jingle from the front of the store.

"That should do it…Just don't bump it and it won't hurt as bad. I'll go see who came into the dress shop." Elliot says before leaving the room. He entered the shop with a calm look as he noticed a familiar blonde girl but she was taller with an hour glass figure that confirmed, to Elliot, who she was. She was looking at one of the dresses he had put on display, the day before, with shimmering eyes. 'Is that?' He thought with widening eyes as Oz appeared, inches away from his face.

"Hey Elliot!" Oz shouts cheerfully with a bright smile on his face causing Elliot to scowl and turn away.

"How may I help you, My Lady?" Elliot says calmly turning to Ada, who had come up behind her brother. She looked as if she had seen a ghost and started to fidget nervously.

"Ah, um… I just…I…" She says shifting her eyes to the dresses before turning a slight pink.

"Ada had seen this dress shop and wanted to stop by… I knew you worked here, so I told her we could come to visit you, too." He says cheerfully and Elliot frowned.

"I see… Well, then please take a look around, Vessalius-sama. It's an honor to serve you." He says calmly watching the girl look at him with startled eyes.

"Ah…Yes…um…Thank you, E-Elliot-kun." She says with a slight smile before she walked off and looked at the dresses.

"Daddy does you need any help?" Cordelia asks appearing from the back room and Oz smiled at her. "Oh, the Shrimp's back…" She says with an innocent look on her face.

"Well, you're not much taller." Oz muttered giving the girl a slight annoyed look. "Don't you remember? My name's Oz, you can call me Oz_-niichan_, if you want, Cor-chan!" Oz says smiling at the frowning girl.

"Shrimp…" Cordelia says simply before bouncing over to Ada with a cheerful look.

"Wah…She doesn't like me." Oz says with a slight depressed look on his face.

"I guess Rakkel was right… She is taking after me, in the worst kind of way." Elliot states calmly leaning against the counter, watching Cordelia look at the dress Ada was looking at. "She's good with customers too. It's surprising that an eight year old can do so much." He says smiling as the Oz turned around to watch them too.

"Yeah, about that…She doesn't look eight, Elliot." Oz says watching Ada converse with her about the dresses and sizes.

"Her birth certificate says otherwise." Elliot states as they heard a meow and Elliot blinked. "Did you guys bring a cat in here?" He asks as a black and white cat jumped up onto the counter, knowing Ada had a couple of cats four years ago.

"Ah, Kali…" Cordelia shouts rushing over to the counter. "Alyss-neesan! Alyss-neesan! Kali got out! Kali!" She calls reaching up onto the counter to grab the cat but Elliot grabs it first.

"You and Alyss snuck a cat in here again." Elliot states with an annoyed look on his face. "You know you're allergic, Cordelia." He states as he moved out from behind the counter.

"Not this one! I haven't sneezed at all from this one, Daddy! I don't get all itchy or bumpy!" She cries latching herself to Elliot's leg in an attempt to stop him from throwing the cat outside.

"This is no place to hide a cat, this is a business! Besides you're going to have a serious allergic reaction, you could die." Elliot states with an annoyed look on his face as Alyss appeared and grabbed the cat from Elliot's grasps.

"She's not allergic to this one, Elliot." Alyss says putting the cat close to his eyes so he was staring at its dark gold ones. They seemed to flash with an unearthly power and Elliot felt his lips quirk into a slight smirk.

'Nekomusume…' He thought smirking amusedly.

"Please can we keep it, Daddy? Please? I'll take care of it." She says with pouty lips and Elliot frowned, looking away from the two girls.

"Fine… But the minute you break out in hives or sneeze or get a rash, it's gone! Zelda-sama and the others will agree with me on that!" Elliot states in annoyance causing the girls to cheer in triumph at getting the cat to stay. "And that thing is not allowed in your room, Cordelia! I mean it! It's to stay outside during the night." He states as his daughter reached up to him and he knelt down, only for her to kiss his cheek.

"I love you, Daddy!" She says hugging him tightly before bouncing away from him and taking the cat into her arms happily. Elliot sighed before scratching the back of his head with a light blush on his cheeks. That's when he noticed Oz giving him a creepy smile.

"Awe, Elliot, she wuves you… That's so cute." Oz says teasingly and Elliot shot him a glare

"Shut up, Shrimp…" Elliot retorts looking away from him to Alyss, who was smiling brightly at him.

"It's not his fault…Elliot's just a lovable teddy bear." She says pressing her hands together.

"Alyss, that's not funny! I am not a doll!" Elliot says letting his face go a darker red and Alyss looked at him with a slight smirk.

"But you are… You're mine and Cordelia's plaything." She says watching Elliot flinch at her words.

"Don't you dare…?" He says with warning in his eyes.

"We always dress you up real pretty when we have tea parties." She says causing Oz to stare at her with confusion in his eyes.

"_Pretty?_" Oz says a slight smirk.

"Yeah, he looks really good in blue frills." Alyss says clapping her hands together watching Oz laugh at a mental image and Elliot glared at the two of them. He opened his mouth to yell at Alyss but he then felt a hand whack him on the back of his head.

"I do believe that your customer has got some questions for you." Zelda sates pointing over to the girl, who was watching the group and flinched.

"Ah, yeah…" Elliot states before turning away from them and walking over to Ada.

"What are you, people, doing here this time? I just spoke to a black haired male that wished to speak to Elliot. If you people are trying something…" Zelda says but stops when Alyss held out her hand to her.

"Mother…This is one of Elliot's friends. We've met before, right Oz-kun?" Alyss says smiling politely and Oz smiled at him.

"Un… I'm so glad, Alyss-chan remembered me." Oz says smiling brightly as the girl tilted her head innocently.

"But If Gilbert-sama is next door, where is the other one…The girl that was with the three of you." She says with a wondering tone as Zelda gave her a warily look.

"Ah, you mean, Alice-san, she's having an etiquette class today. It's funny you two have the same name…I like that name though; it's cute and suits you." He says watching Alyss blush slightly.

"But if we both have the same name it's confusing on who you're talking to." She says turning away from him to look at Zelda. "Ah, that reminds me, Mother… Does Elliot-kun have time to take us to the park today? Efa and I wanted to play on the new equipment that we saw being placed there." Alyss says casually and Zelda smiled slightly.

"If Alyss wants to go to the park then Elliot has all the time in the world for you." Zelda says softly putting her hand on Alyss's shoulder. "He's a good worker; he deserves an afternoon off anyway…" She says turning away from her and walking over to Elliot and Ada.

"If you want to speak to Elliot, I suggest you do it when he's not working…Because mother is very strict." Alyss says softly watching Oz blink before smiling shyly.

"Right…" Oz says scratching the back of his head embarrassedly. 'Does she want me to follow them to the park?' He thought as Ada came up to him and told him she was getting her measurements before she followed Zelda to a changing room.

"Elliot, can we go to the park later on today? I want to see the play equipment." Alyss says cheerily and Elliot looked at her with a curious look.

"As long as you can get Efa to put a pair of pants on, I'll take you. He needs to start acting more like his gender." Elliot says coolly as Alyss squealed in excitement.

"I'll beg him if I have to!" She states as she danced off leaving Elliot alone with Oz.

'All you have to do is ask, princess.' He thought softly as he looked at Oz. "You're sister decided to do business here. She's a lot different now, then back then." He says shifting slightly as he noticed that Oz was almost as tall as him now. "So, are you…" He added looking away from Oz. Oz simply beamed at his words and turned toward the dressing rooms.

"Well, you haven't changed physically at all! But personality wise, I kind of feel like the flame that used to be there has died." He says softly looking at Elliot, who frowned, understanding what he meant.

"I guess, that is because, I am dead inside." He says softly looking down at his feet. "To realize that I was the one killing the ones I loved…even though I told myself I wouldn't regret anything. I still did…and it ate at me until I was dead inside. If it wasn't for the girls and Cordelia, I would have already made myself disappeared." Elliot says softly, feeling Oz's eyes on him.

"Ah…I see." 'I cannot deny the truth, Elliot…so I won't try to lie to you and tell you that you're not at fault but…' "We all missed you, you know. Gilbert and I were extremely torn up about it and Leo was even worse off than us. He blamed himself and the intention of the abyss for your death… He plans to try and obtain the intention to destroy her." Oz says softly watching Elliot shift slightly at the mention of the intention. "He asked me to help him but I told him 'if he intends to cause another tragedy I cannot help him.' He then left and a bunch of things happened to get us where we are now." Oz says softly knowing that Elliot wouldn't be happy about what he was going to say. "We, Pandora members, are to attack to kill if we ever come into contact with him or any of the Baskervilles. So, I thought I would just give you the heads up to warn you because if he finds out you're alive he might come to try and convince you to help him." Oz says with knowing eyes and Elliot rolled his eyes.

"And I will tell him the same damn thing I told you… I'm not interested in getting reconnected with the past. I have Cordelia and I have the girls… they're all I need." Elliot says with stern but soft eyes as he watched Oz frown and glance toward the door. "If you're worried about me joining the Baskervilles, don't be! I'm not interested in obtaining the intention of the Abyss, even less interested in trying to destroying her. I just want to live a normal life pretending that the abyss, chains, and contractors do not exist. Okay? I don't want to lose what little sanity I was able to regain…" Elliot says softly as he closed his eyes. 'What am I saying…? I lost every ounce of sanity once I became a toy to that damn Kijo.' He thought in annoyance as he heard Oz speak.

"I understand… If Pandora decides to take you in because of Humpty Dumpty I will be sure to warn you so you can run." Oz says with a slight smile on his face. "I like to believe that Elliot had justified reasoning for doing the things he did." He says softly as Elliot frowned as he recalled the reasons he had killed them.

"Tsk… This topic is putting a damper on my mood." Elliot states in annoyance as he put his hands on his hips. "This is why I never talk about the past. I'm just ignoring everything you said." He states they heard the bell to the store ring and Gilbert entered the shop. "Afternoon Gilbert-sama… How may I be of service?" He says with a small bow and Gilbert flinched slightly.

"Please stop doing that…" Gilbert says with a small frown and Elliot looked at him curiously before shrugging.

"Forgive me. I cannot help it, if I want to treat a nobleman with respect when he visits the shop I work at." Elliot says calmly and Oz frowned at him with slight irritation.

"If you're so eager to act like that, then why do you bluntly reject our invitation to return to the Nightray House, Elliot?" Oz says with a slight frown knowing that he was upsetting Gilbert with what he just said.

"Because he does not wish to return…it's as simple as that." Zelda says calmly appearing with a clip board and Ada behind her, smiling eagerly. "Elliot… Ada-sama wishes for that design of yours. Why don't you take it down and begin resizing it? She said take as long as we like but I want it done as soon as possible got that? No dilly-dallying, you slacker!" She states harshly and Elliot smiled at her.

"Yes, of course, Zelda-sama. I will start on it right away. It's a pleasure doing business with the Vessalius Family." Elliot says causing Ada to look at him confusedly before she nodded unsure of what was going on.

"Y-Yes, thank you for your help." She says smiling slightly and Elliot flinched causing Ada to back up.

"Why thank us? We should be thanking you for your business." Zelda says smiling at Ada as she hit Elliot on the head with her clipboard. "You forgot this, Elliot." She states coolly before Elliot took it without complaint.

"Right… Excuse me, for the moment and please have a good day." Elliot says walking away from them.

"We'll have your dress ready as soon as possible and we will send you a message when it is complete." Zelda says smiling happily at Ada, who nodded at her words.

"Yes, thank you very much." She says happily before she turned to Oz.

"Elliot seems to be busy, so we'll have to catch up with him later, Ada." Oz says gently as he watched Ada nod. "Let's go, Gil." He says gently tugging on the man's sleeve as the three walked out of the shop. Zelda watched them walk away before she let out a slight growl.

"If those people keep coming back, Elliot, they're going to find out about Alyss." Zelda says coolly as she turned to look at Elliot, who was holding the dress he was supposed to alter.

"I know, Zelda-sama… I'll be careful and make sure they don't find out about her." Elliot says calmly as he disappeared behind the counter and into the back room. Zelda sighed before smiling sadly.

"I know you will…" She whispers softly before turning to go to check on Rakkel.


	7. Chapter 7

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**Chapter 7**

"Hurry up, Elliot, Alyss, The playground's calling me!" Efa calls playfully as Elliot walked with Cordelia on his shoulders and Alyss standing beside him. "Oh, you two's little family routine makes me was to hurl!" He states making a gaging sound as Alyss giggle at his words.

"What do you mean? I'm just making sure Cordelia doesn't fall. Elliot's one hand is bad after all." Alyss says innocently and Elliot rolled he eyes.

"Just because it's weak doesn't mean I can't hold my daughter." Elliot responds as Cordelia wrapped her arms around Elliot's head. "Hey now, I can't see if you do that." He says smiling gently as he tapped the girl's arms.

"I'm happy though… It's been a long while since I got to go outside to play with Daddy." She says smiling a bright childish smile.

"That's because Cordelia doesn't know how to behave herself and gets grounded." Elliot says calmly as he heard a meow. "Kali is another reason… You're lucky I didn't ground you for sneaking her into the shop. We can't have Zelda killing her right?" He states with a frown as he looked at the cat that was walking on the opposite side.

"Oh come on, Elliot. Nekomusume isn't really a cat so she can evade Zelda's attack… She's an ally after all and good for surveillance when you aren't able too." Efa says with a slight skip to his step and he pranced around in front of the other two.

"I know but Zelda hates cats and tries to kill them whenever she sees them. I don't think that would be a good thing for Kali." Elliot states with a cool voice and Alyss laughed at him.

"You're the only one that makes a big deal out of it, Elli-chan." She says poking Elliot's cheek playfully.

"That's because Cordelia's my daughter and Kali is my ally." He says calmly as they stopped in front of the playground.

"Looks like our, play time, is going to be interrupted." Efa says with a slight pout on his face as he pointed to the three people sitting on a bench.

"Don't they get tired of trying to convince the dead?" Elliot muttered in annoyance. 'Leo hasn't come back since his first visit so I don't know why these people are being so persistent.' He thought with a slight frown as he felt eyes on him as he glanced at Gilbert, Ada, and Oz.

"So, you did come!" Oz says cheerfully as he stood, prancing over to them and Elliot frowned, putting his daughter down on the ground before crossing his arms.

"You three are starting to become stalkers and I'm tempted to call the cops." Elliot states know that the three were technically the cops but that wouldn't stop the threat from escaping his lips.

"But we just want to talk to you some more, Elliot. The first time we talked you hardly gave us any answers and you kicked us out of the bar. And the second time you were working." Oz says softly as Elliot shifted slightly as he watched Alyss take Cordelia's hand and lead her off to the playground, with Efa right behind her happily taking Cordelia's free hand. Oz instantly followed after, pulling Ada with him causing her to laugh as if remembering good memories.

"They'll watch Cordelia and the other two for you, Elliot… Please just speak with me, I...I want to have a talk with my little brother." Gilbert says softly as Elliot shifted with a warily look as he body tensed with caution. "I-I won't force you to answer anything that you don't want to, I promise." Gilbert says worried that his younger brother was uncomfortable about what was going on.

"Can't you sense that?" Elliot growls in annoyance as Gilbert tensed wondering what the boy was talking about as Elliot's body relaxed and he started to walk toward the playground. "It's gone…Let's go sit on one of the benches by the playground. I want to watch and make sure Cordelia doesn't get hurt." He states harshly as Gilbert followed after him, taking notice that there was something hidden in the small of Elliot's back.

"Elliot, are you carrying a weapon?" Gilbert asks curious as to the answer but Elliot simply reached behind his back and pulled out a dagger. He then held it out to Gilbert expecting the man to take it.

"It's for protection…" Elliot says putting it back in its place when Gilbert did not take it from him. "I cannot use a sword anymore so I use this… But I suppose me carrying around a weapon isn't the best idea in the world, considering what happened." He says softly with a depressed look that went unnoticed.

"It's not like you intend to use it on anyone, right?" Gilbert says softly and Elliot nodded.

"For self-defense… Since I came into contact with Humpty Dumpty I attract other chains and contractors. I haven't come into contact with one, since I threw that horrid thing away, but I know better to let my guard down." He says softly as he kept an eye on his surroundings.

"Ah…That's true but-"

"Don't say it!" Elliot states harshly, stopping Gilbert in tracks as he noticed the annoyance in Elliot's eyes, as the teen looked back at him. "Sorry…I'm not angry at you; I just don't want to hear it…" He says softly glancing over at Alyss and Cordelia who were sitting on the swings together. He smiled slightly before he moved over to the bench and sat down, waiting for Gilbert to do the same. Gilbert hesitantly did as he watched Elliot with curious eyes.

"I know you don't want to hear it, Elliot, but it needs to be said. If you're worried chains might be attracted to you, why do you not wish to come back to Pandora? We'll be able to take care of you." He says gently watching Elliot's eyes harden and he had a feeling that he knew what the teen was thinking. "You will not be charged with anything…We've told you this before. I really mean it too, Elliot. The Pandora Members will be more worried about finding the last sealing stone than the sudden reappearance of the supposedly dead Elliot Nightray." He says as if trying to reassure Elliot that he would be fine if he did come.

'The last sealing stone…' Elliot thought closing his eyes with a nervous feeling in his chest. "So, the Baskervilles haven't found them all yet?" He asks in a sort of hopeful way causing Gilbert to flinch before nodding.

"They know where it is but the Doji keep stopping them. Why are you asking me that?" Gilbert questions as Elliot looked at him with a warm smile that startled the man.

"Because that means there's still hope." Elliot says softly as he watched Gilbert stare at him with wide eyes. "Maybe you, yourself, should focus on finding the sealing stone as well…instead of chasing phantoms like me." He says in a slight playful way as he watched Alyss jump of the swing and dance around the playground like a small child would do, with Cordelia following after her, imitating Alyss's movements flawlessly.

"We've got trusted and highly skilled men on the job…We've got many more important matters to deal with." Gilbert says in a stern way watching his brother turn his attention back to him.

"What _matters_? Chasing me around the city? I don't want to go back to the manor or even Pandora, Gilbert. I don't need to… I learned how to cook, clean, and work for what I have. I don't need to be treated the way I had been." Elliot states casually and Gilbert sighed knowing that it had been four years and the teen could learn things like that in that amount of time.

"I understand that… But Elliot, you are still nobility by blood and we…I could really…use your help." He says realizing what he was implying and he didn't like it.

"You mean, you could really use _me_? I know that much, Gilbert… Oz told me about Leo and what he intends to do. I know that you people want to use me to try and lure out Leo. It's not going to happen, he doesn't know that I survived and since it's been for years he won't easily believe it." Elliot states leaning back against the bench.

"That's not what I am getting at, at all! I want you there so I can protect you! I want what's left of our family to be together!" Gilbert says with a serious look in his eyes as Elliot glanced back at him with an irritated look.

"Right… You say that but you don't really mean it." Elliot says coolly as he shifted away from Gilbert, crossing his legs, letting his top foot start shaking in annoyance. Gilbert just stared at him in shock before scowling.

"How can _you_ of all people say such things?" Gilbert states with a rage filled look on his face.

"Because…None of you checked to even see if I was alive! That's why I can say that! I know I was a criminal but if you had checked to see if I was alive my punishment could have been a much better one." Elliot says with a serious look on his face that caused Gilbert to stare at him.

"What do you mean? Wh-Why would you say that? Death is the ultimate punishment." Gilbert says with a startled look on his face.

"No Gilbert… Living and letting the memory of what I've done eat at me, in a cell all alone… That would have been a proper punishment… No something even worse than that... How about Ling Chi? Randolph, the butcher down the street, might be pretty good at it." Elliot says with a slight sadistic look to his face.

"Eh-Elliot! I already told you, you are not going to be charged! We found papers on experiments that our father had been doing! You were one of his experiments. It's not your fault…" Gilbert states with a slight upset look on his face and Elliot grimaced.

"Ah, is that so? That's just a bunch of bullshit…" Elliot states casually causing Gilbert to glare at him in annoyance.

"But it's the truth!" Gilbert exclaims starting to get annoyed at the fact that Elliot was calling his innocence '_bullshit_'.

"Who the hell believes that shit?" Elliot states harshly causing Gilbert to flinch.

"Oz and I believe it…" Gilbert says softly lowering his eyes so they were not focused on Elliot. 'Why is he being so stubborn? Most people would be happy that they weren't going to be punished for things like this.' Gilbert thought tightening his grip onto his pant legs.

"Good for you, then, I don't believe it. I don't care if I was an experiment…If an animal that was experimented on killed someone then it'd be put to death immediately." Elliot states with a pissed look on his face.

"You're not an animal! You're the only surviving blood member of the Nightray family." Gilbert says with the aggravation clear in his voice as Elliot let out a slight growl.

"There's no difference between me and an animal." Elliot says as he sensed the thing from before. 'It's back… Damn it. This aura must be the Nikusui.' He thought glancing up at Efa who was scanning the area with a warily look. 'I'm not the only one who senses it at least.'

"What the hell made you start thinking like that! This isn't the brother that I remember!" Gilbert states drawing Elliot's attention back to the man that looked extremely aggravated that he wasn't going to help them.

"It's been four fucking years! You're not the same Gilbert so what the fuck do you have against me believing what I believe!" Elliot states harshly not liking the fact that Gilbert was trying to get him to turn his back on Leo.

"It wasn't your fault for everything that happened! Quit being such a stubborn child!" Gilbert shouts standing as he looked at Elliot who looked slightly shocked by his words.

"A stubborn child, huh?" Elliot says looking away from Gilbert. "Well, I suppose, a child should go play with the children and leave the adults to their own work." He says coldly getting ready to stand and leave but Alyss pops out of nowhere.

"Elliot! Elliot! Help me climb on that dome-thingy! I can't get up by myself because of my dress." Alyss whines grabbing Elliot's hand and giving it a small shake. Elliot looked up at her curiously before he smiled slightly at her childish excitement as she stared at him with innocent eyes.

"Such a noisy, princess…" Elliot states placing his hand on her head and ruffling her hair. "If I help you up there, I expect you will get down on your own…" He states casually pulling his hand away as the girl squealed in delight.

"What if I can't? Will you help me down?" She asks watching Elliot stand with a hopeful look and Elliot felt like teasing her.

"Nope…" He says with an uninterested look on his face.

"Ah! That's so mean! Fine, I know Efa will help me down!" She says with a childish glare and Elliot snorted as they two began to walk toward the jungle gym, Alyss called a _dome-thingy_.

"I can imagine how that will pan out." He says with a slight smirk on his face as he imagined it.

"I know what you're thinking and I wouldn't squish him." Alyss states with an irritated look on her face.

"Oh, I'm sure your dress will." He states causing the girl to grab the frilled hem of her dress.

"But girls are supposed to wear dresses like this." She says with shy look on her face.

"I know… I want you to be careful though, princess." Elliot says kneeling down to help Alyss up on to the metal equipment. Alyss let him help her up onto one of the bars where she sat with a satisfied look on her face. "There's something dangerous in the area." He whispers standing up straight and looking up at Alyss, who was watching Oz and Ada play in the sand with Cordelia.

"I will be careful, Elliot." She says kissing his nose lightly before he scowled at her and his face went bright red. "I love when Elliot worries about me, but I love his flustered face even more." She says grinning ear to ear in amusement as Elliot turned away from her.

"I'm definitely not helping you down, now!" He states walking away as Alyss gasps.

"Wait, I won't be able to get down on my own! What if I'm attacked?" She squeals in a panic as Elliot points to Efa, who was walking over to her. "That's not funny! I thought you were my knight! You jerk!" She cries half-heartedly as Efa climbed up beside her and told her something that made her smile. Elliot then walked back over to the bench and stood with a slight frown on his lips. He watched the others intently as he sensed Gilbert shift but he had no intention of listening to the man's words.

"Elliot… I didn't mean to say that, I lost my temper but I really believe that Elliot's a victim here." Gilbert says softly wanting Elliot to understand how he felt but Elliot didn't seem to respond to his words because he bolted toward Ada, Cordelia, and Oz.

"Hit the ground!" He shouts knocking Ada back as a strange creature appeared and grabbed his right arm that had blocked its way from grabbing Ada. He let out a sharp hiss before he kicked the thing away, exposing the now bloody spot where the creature had grabbed him. The sleeve looked as if it had been burnt away and the skin ripped off, he grimaced at the blood dripping off of his arm as he glanced back to make sure Ada was okay. She was in shock, her eyes open wide and her hands over her mouth as she shook.

"Elliot!" Oz shouts in shock as Elliot knelt down and pulled Cordelia to her feet.

"Cordelia… Daddy wants you to go with Alyss and get yourself back home, take Lady Vessalius with you! Don't stop running until you get home, is that understood?" Elliot states calmly, letting go of the girl's arm and kissing her forehead

"Yes, daddy…" Cordelia says grabbing Ada's hand and pulling her away from the creature. The creature watched the two with predator-like eyes until Elliot drew the dagger from the back of his pants.

"Ada-san!" Gilbert shouts following after the girl giving a hesitant glance at his master before he continued off, after the girls.

"You should pay attention to the men more there, Nikusui. We tend to protect the women that you try to hunt down. Besides that one might give you back problems." Elliot says in a playful manner and the creature's body shifted and changed into that of a young woman whose face looked severely decayed. Her eyes were coal black and void of any life as she stared at Elliot and Oz.

"Raca*… How dare, you, interfere with my business." The woman says flicking her singed hair back over her shoulder as she watched Elliot point the gun at her.

"How dare, you, call me by such a foul name." Elliot states coldly as he watched the woman laugh amusedly.

"But that's your name! You are Raca…Worthless…the one without worth. It's the name that ma-"

"My name is Elliot Nightray! I will not go by any other name…Tell that to your disgusting master." Elliot states as he sensed Oz unleash B-Rabbit's powers. "B-Rabbit's powers aren't going to do much good, Oz." Elliot muttered as he glanced to the side and saw Efa holding both his scythes as he watched the creature threateningly.

"Elliot… Leave this to me, you're bleeding pretty badly." Oz says appearing beside Elliot holding the Scythe with calculating crimson eyes and Elliot rolled his eyes.

"Go after the girls and protect them, if you want to protect something." Elliot sates watching the woman step forward.

"Now… Now… Raca…That's not nice to say. You're unable to fight me because you cannot use your left hand, so you're in grave danger going against me anyway…" She says with a wicked grin on his black lips but Elliot simply smiled at her words.

"You're wrong… you are no threat to me. Nor are you a danger… You're just a measly fly on the butt off a horse…that gets slapped by the horse's tail and dies." Elliot says darkly watching the rage flow through the woman's face and body posture. "Oh and just because I cannot fight doesn't mean I cannot be a shield or a blockade to buy the others some time to get away…" He says as Efa walks up beside Oz and grabs his shoulder.

"Come on, Oz… Elliot can take this thing on." Efa says trying to pull the teen back but Oz pushed him away.

"What are you saying?" Oz states with red eyes glaring at Efa.

"Do it, Oz… Go with Efa. This thing is not interested in my rotting flesh so I will keep it busy until you two are safe." Elliot says coolly as Oz scowled.

"I'm not going to run away, Elliot." Oz growls but Elliot scoffed.

"Rebirth… Knock him out." Elliot states coolly, looking at Nikusui with murderous eyes. "I don't intend to give this _thing_ any free meals." Elliot states as Efa struck Oz in the back, knocking him unconscious before taking him and disappearing. "Now… Shall we start, Nikusui? You crossed the line and I'm here to take you out." He says putting the knife to the wound on his arm and slicing it wide open causing more blood to spill out of the wound.

"How dare, you, use our master's gift to you on a comrade!" She hisses watching the blood trail out of the wound and change in color till it was as black as the abyss.

"Comrade?" Elliot says softly as the blood began to float in a line forming a rope-like form. "Like hell you are…" He shouts as the floating blood shot out like a whip and attacking the Nikusui.


	8. Chapter 8

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**_Chapter 8_**

"They were murdered?" Leo muttered with little interest as he stood outside in a crowd of people who were watching a murder being cleaned up.

"It seems so… We best go; this place is surrounded by Pandora Members." Vincent says casually as he pulled Leo away from the crowd and led him away. "Since you wished to be outside why don't we go spend some time in the park, my lord?" Vincent asks softly as he watched Leo scowl but nod.

"Very well…" He says softly as the three began to walk down the street toward the park. As they were walking Ada, Alyss, holding Cordelia, appeared. Vincent stopped and stared at Alyss with wide eyes of recognition before he scowled with hate in his eyes. He quickly pulled Leo behind him as watched as the girls stopped in front of them panting. Alyss looked at him annoyed, obviously recognizing him just like he did her.

"You're in our way." Alyss states softly as she took a deep breath.

"Vincent-sama…" Ada whispers before she moved forward. "Vincent-sama, it's horrible! We were in the park with Elliot and… and this chain attacked and Elliot's hurt…and we have to do something! Or Elliot might get killed! I don't want to see Onii-chan and Gilbert so sad again!" She says in a panic and Leo moved out from behind Vincent.

"Elliot…You know about him being-" Leo thought with wide eyes as the head a gunshot causing Alyss and Cordelia to scream in fright.

"Get away from them, Vincent." Gilbert shouts with angered eyes.

"Niichan…" Vincent greets happily, not affected by the sound of the gunshot. He simply smiled watching Gilbert moved forward and pull Ada back behind him in a protective way but Alyss slammed her foot down onto his.

"You could have shot us!" Alyss yells in a pissed off voice as she glared at Gilbert but Cordelia started screaming and crying. "Ah, Cordelia… Shh… It's alright." She says quickly as she moved away from the others. "It's okay… It didn't hit anyone… It'll be okay, Cor-chan…" She whispers holding Cordelia tightly

"Daddy…Daddy, they're going to shoot at each other… Daddy, make them stop." Cordelia cries covering her eyes with her hands.

"Hey! Nightray retards! Apologize to her!" Alyss shouts glaring at the two, who looked at her startled by her outburst. "You scared her! Cordelia can't stand loud noises like that! It terrifies her! Apologize!" She yells watching the two continue to stare at her with confused eyes.

"It's alright, Cordelia-san, no one is going to shoot anyone." Leo says softly moving closer to the girls. He put his hand on Cordelia's head and the girl looked up at him with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"L-L-Leo-san." She whimpers pushing her glasses up to rub her eyes to rid herself of the tears.

"Yep…Don't worry. No one's going to get hurt. Gilbert's one of the Baskervilles after all." Leo says smiling gently at her even though he knew he wasn't good with children but if Cordelia was anything like the children he had met before he could at least try.

"Really? Is daddy too?" Cordelia says suddenly leaning forward to Leo, who looked slightly startled by how quickly the child's mind could be distracted.

"No, Elliot's not!" Gilbert shouts in annoyance causing Cordelia to flinch and curl back into Alyss's embrace, as if she was afraid.

"You don't have to shout, Niichan. She's just a foolish child." Vincent says with a slight chuckle as he went to move over to Leo.

"Don't go any closer, Vincent." Gilbert orders harshly, pointing his gun at the man.

"So mean, you still haven't forgiven me after our little fight? It's been three years, since our last one. Should we fight more, Niichan?" Vincent asks with an amused tone.

"Um… Please don't fight." Ada tries to interrupt but Gilbert held his hand out in front of her.

"Stay back, Ada-san… He's extremely dangerous." Gilbert says softly and Vincent chuckles.

"I suppose I am but you left those two completely unguarded." Vincent says pointing at Alyss and Cordelia, who were telling Leo what was going on.

"Who's completely unguarded? I'm their guard for the moment." Efa says approaching them, with Oz slung over his shoulder.

"Oz!" Gilbert shouts watching Efa lay unconscious boy on the ground. "What'd you do to him?"  
>Gilbert shouts not moving from his spot to keep Vincent from moving.<p>

"He was knocked out by the chain. Elliot told me to take him and get out of there before he was eaten."

"What about Elliot?" Gilbert shouts lowering his gun slightly.

"He'll be fine…the fights probably over by now. It's been at least fifteen minutes, you know." Efa says with a bright smile.

"That's not what I meant." Gilbert states putting the gun down and glaring at the boy.

"It's fine… It's fine… If he gets ripped apart it'll just take a few days for him to pull himself back together." Efa says with a slight confused look.

"Efa-kun… Elliot cannot fight." Gilbert states with a harsh look in his eyes as he went to turn back towards the park. "I'm going to make sure _my_ little brother is safe." He states in annoyance as he turned to go back to the park but a tiger like chain jumped him and knocked him into the wall.

"Ah, Niichan!" Vincent shouts as he pulled out his gun.

"What the heck is a chain doing here?" Leo grumbles going to summon the Jabberwocky but he heard Alyss shout for Cordelia. He looked and saw the little girl running the direction the park was in.

"Cordelia, come back here!" Alyss shouts running after her as Leo moved to follow them just in case the chain went after them.

"I'm going to get Daddy!" Cordelia responds bolting down the road causing Leo to follow after her, forgetting about the chain, letting Vincent and Echo deal with it.

As he followed Cordelia and Alyss his mind wandered back to the doubt of this person truly being Elliot. His heart ached at the thought that it might be an imposter and reached out to the belief that it was Elliot. After all, for four years now he's wanted to destroy his self and become nothing but he had the inability to end his own life. The memories of the many times he tried, and how four years ago, he had almost got his wish thanks to Jack's cruelty but he recalled how the Doji interfered and the other Baskerville's escaped with him in tow.

"Elliot!" Alyss shouts in shock as Leo snapped out of his thoughts to see a creature lying down on the ground and Elliot leaning against a tree a few feet away from it.

"Yoh…" Elliot greeted her lifting up his right hand that was covered in blood.

"Elliot…" Leo says with worry painted all over his face as memories of the incident in Isla Yura's manor flashed in his mind. "Are you hurt? Did that thing attack you?" Leo says as Alyss knelt beside Elliot and touched his left arm, exposing the wound. Leo felt his body flinch and a slight rage fill his mind.

"Alyss, I'm fine. I was a distraction so you guys could get away…Besides I needed to do that." Elliot states calmly as he looked at the rotted creature that was a ways away.

"So, it rotted away because of the lack of darkness?" Alyss asks softly and Elliot smiled slightly.

"Yeah…" Elliot says leaning his head back against the tree as Cordelia jumped on him.

"Daddy!" Cordelia says curling up on Elliot's chest. "Uncle Gilbert shot his noise maker and it was really scary." She says tearing up as Elliot reached up and stroked her cheek.

"Really were you hurt, Cordelia?" Elliot says softly smiling slightly as Cordelia sniffled.

"No, but it was scary…" Cordelia says softly.

'Why aren't they worried about that wound? Why doesn't he acknowledge that I'm standing here?' Leo thought gritting his teeth as he knelt sensed something moving behind him to see that the creature that they thought was dead was moving again.

"Tsk… Don't you ever give up, you stupid Shadow?" Elliot questions as he stood and started to move forward but the Jabberwocky appeared and crushed the thing under its one claw.

"Make sure it's dead Jabberwocky." Leo states coldly as he watched the chain move its paw slightly and they heard the cracking of bones. "Get your ass back on the ground, can't you see you're seriously wounded, you idiot." Leo says before the Jabberwocky disappeared and he moved forward to the mush that was once Nikusui.

"That looked Fun…" Alyss says with a slight smile as she pranced over to him to look at the creature herself.

"Is it dead?" Cordelia asks frightened that it wasn't dead and Alyss kicking the mush with the tip of her shoe.

"Yep…It's definably dead." She says with a slight laugh at the squishing sound it made. "Nice job, Mr." Alyss says before turning back toward Elliot. "Let's all go home, Elliot. We can have tea and enjoy the afternoon on the roof." She says brightly.

"Sounds like a lovely idea, Alyss." Elliot says as he took Cordelia's hand but when he tried to walk the direction of their home Leo stopped him.

"Elliot! Do you realize you're seriously hurt? You're still bleeding and need medical attention, you know that, right?" Leo questions him with an annoyed glare and Elliot looked at him with a slight sad look.

"If I ignore it, it'll go away." Elliot states casually as he tried to pass Leo but the black haired teen grabbed his elbow, stopping him from passing.

"You're retarded if you believe that's true…" Leo says harshly as he pulled off the cravat he had chosen to wear instead of his usual ribbon before he began to wrap it around the wound. "We need to get you to a doctor quickly before you lose any more blood." He states as Elliot sighs with an annoyed look on his face.

"What do you mean by 'we'? You go near a doctor's office and Pandora will swarm the area before you even blink…Just go, Leo…I can handle something small like this." Elliot states before pushing Alyss and Cordelia back as Echo landed between him and Leo with her knife extended. "Hello, Echo. I see you haven't changed much, a little older but still. How's Zwei?" He greets as the girl took a step back, slightly startled by who he was.

"Hello, Elliot-sama…" She greets with a forty-five degree angle bow. "She's being her usual self." She adds emotionlessly and Elliot chuckled slightly.

"Is that so… I'm terribly sorry about that." He says gently as Cordelia tugged on his pant leg sacredly. "It's alright, Cordelia, you don't have to be afraid of Echo… It's the other one you should watch out for." He says softly as Leo stepped around Echo, who looked slightly startled.

"I'm not leaving… You need help." Leo says with a serious stare directed at Elliot, who simply rolled his eyes and turned to Alyss and Cordelia.

"Alyss, Cordelia… It's time to go home. Come on, We've got to go back and get some more work done." Elliot states as Cordelia smiled brightly.

"Okay, Daddy, Cordelia wants to help! She wants to put the pretties on the dress." Cordelia says with an over excited look on her face and Elliot shook his head.

"No, remember the last time you put the 'pretties' on the dress?" Elliot states coolly as the girl pouted and crossed her arms.

"Yes…" Cordelia says as Elliot smiled gently and patted her head.

"Let's go." Alyss says wrapping her arms around Elliot's arm, glancing at Echo and Leo with cautious eyes. Leo stared right back with a hurt, angered, expression before he lowered his eyes.

"Vincent… Make him come with us… he's hurt and I have questions that need to be answered." Leo growled as the three went to pass and Elliot pushed Alyss and Cordelia back as Vincent appeared behind Elliot.

"As you wish my Lord." He states grabbing Elliot but the teen spun around and jumped backwards.

"I'm not going… with you, Leo." Elliot states pointing at Vincent as Alyss moved closer. "Don't Alyss… Take Cordelia and go home. Don't tell anyone that you saw the Baskervilles… If you do then we'll get pulled back into this mess." He says as Alyss nodded as she grabbed Cordelia but stayed where she was because Echo moved over to them with her knife drawn.

"Until Elliot-sama agrees with the master's wishes I'm not letting you leave." She says emotionlessly as Alyss chuckled.

"Really? Good for you." Alyss says moving Cordelia behind her as she saw Vincent summon a chain. "No…" She whispers taking a step forward. "Elliot, watch out!" She shouts trying to move forward but Echo stopped her.

"You annoy me… You're just like that annoying B-rabbit, Alice." Echo states with a scowl as Alyss's eyes thinned at her words.

"You're the one that's annoying." Alyss states as she glanced at Cordelia and motioned for the girl to step back. "But I will take it as a compliment though because you compared me to a rabbit." She says watching Cordelia move back and she rolled her shoulders. "But I'm not really dressed for fighting so I'll ask you nicely like a lady should." She says smiled with an innocent look. "Will you let us pass, Echo-san? I'd be ever so thankful, if you did." Alyss says pressing her hands together hopefully.

"My Lord wishes for Elliot-sama to come with him… As long as you two are here, Elliot-sama won't fight back." Echo says casually as Alyss lowered her hands with an annoyed look on her face.

"So, we're hostages?" She says frowning as she glanced at Cordelia and nodded with a slight scowl.

"Yes…" Echo says as Alyss let out a sigh before turning half way toward Cordelia.

"Okay… Cordelia come over here. We're going to watch Daddy wrestle with Uncle Vincent." Alyss says as Cordelia giggled and shook her head. "Why? Don't you want to watch?" She asks with a playful look.

"I don't want to get in Alyss-neechan's way…" Cordelia says cutely and Alyss giggled.

"You won't! Come, Come!" Alyss says motioning Cordelia to come over to her and the girl bounced over to her and stood behind her. Echo looked at the two cautiously and then looked at Leo, who was glaring at the ground.

"Leo-san is upset…isn't he?" Cordelia says softly as Echo glanced back at her but kept her eyes on her master. "Daddy has his reasons…Leo-san needs to understand that. He doesn't want to get Leo-san into any more trouble and he wants to save Leo-san but he doesn't have the ability to." She says softly as Alyss nodded.

"That's why he won't go with Leo… He really does care about your master. He wants nothing more than to keep him safe, just as you and the others do but he simply does not have that ability…unlike you." Alyss says loudly, knowing Leo could hear her, moving forward. Leo simply flinched at her words but stayed silent.

"No more talking… You'll upset Leo-sama." Echo states harshly turning to face the girl but she was struck in the back of the neck. As she fell to the ground Vincent and Leo looked at her surprised as Alyss stepped forward rubbing her hand with a small scowl.

"Owwwah! That hurt...Elliot makes it look so easy." Alyss grumbles as Cordelia clapped her hands with a large smile on her face.

"But Alyss-neesan actually did it! Good job, neesan!" She says cheerfully as Alyss smiled proudly before looking at Elliot.

"Elliot! Let's go, quit having a glaring match with Vincent! Mother will be mad at us if we stay out too long." She states putting a hand on his hip as Elliot glanced at her.

"Yes…Yes…" Elliot says turning to walk away from Vincent but the man stepped forward and grabbed his arm.

"It's unforgivable to deny a request from my master." Vincent says as Elliot tried to pull his arm way from Vincent but the dormouse appeared behind Vincent causing Elliot to curse under his breath before he fell limp. Cordelia screamed as she saw the chain and started shouting for Vincent to put Elliot down but Vincent simply picked him up bridal-style.

"Put him down!" Alyss states with anger in her voice.

"My master has requested his presence at our home; I will not go against his will." Vincent says as Alyss grimaced.

"That's a load of bull! Humans have their own wills…It's never for someone else it's always for themselves. I can tell by the look on your face that you don't believe that's Elliot! So put him down!" Alyss shouts pulling her hands into fists. "Put him down or you will regret this!"

"Really? That's quite big talk for such a scrawny little girl." Vincent states harshly as Alyss felt a blade pressed against her throat and she glanced over to the side to see two cloaked figures. The man had a hold of Cordelia, covering her mouth and Charlotte was the one pressing the dagger to her throat.

"Fools… You all should quit playing house as well…" Alyss states coolly as she lifted up her leg as if to kick the one holding the knife but before she could a white haired man appeared and knocked them away from her. "K-Kevin?" Alyss whispers with a slight shocked look before she looked at the man that had Cordelia. "You…Big guy… Ever see a mother bear when someone gets too close to their cub?" She says coolly as she grabbed Echo's blade off the ground. The man stay silent before Alyss jumped forward and swiped at him but he dodged, not letting go of the girl.

"Leon!" Alyss mummers as the lion-like beast appeared and tackled the man causing him to let go of Cordelia, who quickly ran over to her.

"L-Leon! What are you doing! Get off of Doug." The other cloaked figure shouted ignoring the silver haired man before the chain disappeared and the two disappeared.

"They're getting away!" Alyss yells before turning to glare at Leo but the teen and Vincent were gone. "Damn it!" She curses under her breath as Cordelia started crying because they took her father.

"You have quite a bit of guts trying demand things from that twisted child, My Lady." The silver haired man states with an amused look on her face.

"I don't give a rat's behind…." Cordelia shouts. "I want my Daddy! Get him back. Daddy! Daddy!" Cordelia shouts sobbing uncontrollably and Break scowled.

"Make this child be quiet." Break states coldly as Alyss looked at him with an insulted look.

"Excuse me? Why don't you just go back into the whole you climbed out of?" Alyss states pulling Cordelia to her comfortingly.

"Then I will tell her to be quiet." Break states bending down to grab Cordelia but Alyss kicked him in the face.

"Don't you think you can order us around, you old man!" Alyss shouts glaring at Break who looked absolutely startled that a woman kicked him.

"Break! What's going on? Why are you here?" Gilbert's voice shouts as they look to see Gilbert helping an extremely dazed looking Oz with Efa right behind them.

"Hello, Gilbert-kun! Oh, if it isn't the spunky little girl from before… well, I suppose I should say spunky little boy." Break says standing planning on ignoring the fact he was kicked and the child that was still bawling her eyes out.

"Can it, old man." Efa says coolly walking past him.

"Oh, testy… What did I ever do to you?" Break says with a small pout as he watched the boy kneel in front of the child.

"Cor-chan…Cor-chan, please don't cry. Those people aren't able hurt him…You know that more than anyone." Efa says gently patting the girl's head as she continued to sob.

"B-But Daddy was hurt and-and Cordelia wasn't able to kiss it and make it better." Cordelia shouted before sobbing again and Break scowled.

"Is that what she's crying about?" Break says with an un-amused look on his face.

"Can it, old man!" Alyss and Efa shouted before Alyss picked up Cordelia and Efa glanced at Echo.

"What are we going to do with her?" Efa asks checking her pulse to make sure she was alive.

"Take her back home… She was kind enough not to stab me or Elliot when we were ignoring her master so as a reward we'll let her come home with us." Alyss says calmly and Break stepped forward.

"I do not think that would be in the best interests of your family." Break states as Alyss glared at him but said nothing.

**_0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0_**

"We've bandaged him up properly, my Lord." A pink haired woman named Charlotte, or Lotti for short, says calmly as she watched the teen stand from his seated position on a chair in the Library.

"Is that so? Thank you very much for fixing him up." Leo states casually as Lotti frowned.

"May I ask why we have brought him here, my lord?" Lotti says quietly knowing that the boy resembled the late Elliot Nightray.

"I have some questions that only he can answer…And there is also the little fact that his wounds were twice as serious an hour prior to the time we brought him back here. His rate of healing is unnatural, even for a Baskerville. It interests me…" Leo states casually as he turned to the door. "Is he awake?" He asks and Lotti sighed.

"He was semi-conscious when I was cleaning out and wrapping the cut… He was muttering something about his daughter. I think he was asking about her whereabouts." Lotti says as Leo nodded slowly.

"Well then, I will go see if he has regained his senses… I'd like to get some answers as soon as possible and return him to her." Leo states casually before he left and scowled coldly. 'Now that you're here, you cannot avoid giving me answers because you're in my domain.' Leo thought walking down the hall to the room that had once been Elliot's room in the summer home. He opened the door without knocking and he saw Elliot was sleeping causing him to sigh. 'He's such an idiot...' Leo thought as he walked over to Elliot and looked at his bandaged arm that he had slung over the edge of the bed. "You're just going to hurt yourself even more…" Leo mummers gently touching the boy's arm, which flinched causing him to pull away. "Does it hurt?" He whispered kneeling in front of Elliot gently taking the boy's arm and bending it so it was at a right angle. "It's your own fault…" He continued pressing his cheek against the palm of Elliot's hand. "But don't worry…I'll make sure Elliot is never hurt again…Even if I have to lie to every single last one of my men and women. I'll even chain you to me if I have to." Leo thought moving so he could kiss Elliot's palm before moving down to where the wound was. 'Dead or alive…I will always be by your side and you'll be beside mine...' He thought nipping the wound of Elliot's arm causing the boy to flinch in his unconcious state.


	9. Chapter 9

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**_Chapter 9_**

"So, you expect us to let you take my daughter and Cordelia?" Zelda states with an annoyed look on her face as Gilbert flinched.

"E-Elliot was abducted and the two might have also if Break had not stepped in." Gilbert says casually and Alyss scoffed. He, Oz, and Break had escorted Efa and Alyss back to their home only for Break to state that it would be in their best interest to have Alyss and Cordelia to go to Pandora with them.

"Please, if you hadn't stepped in and distracted me Elliot would be here making me and Cordelia dinner!" Alyss says picking at her hair with an annoyed look causing Gilbert to glare at her words.

"I can make dinner, Alyss-neesan!" Cordelia says with a proud look. "I'm going to take care of the apartment until Daddy comes home and he'll be so happy to see how clean I kept it and how much of a big girl Cordelia can be. Then He'll praise Cordelia and let her give him lots of kisses!" Cordelia states with a delighted look on her face.

'This coming from the child that was bawling the whole way from the park… because she didn't get to kiss her _Daddy's_ wounds…Now she's going on like that.' Break thought with a slight scowl. "How annoying…" Break states with a small scowl on his lips causing Alyss to step from her spot behind Zelda and the others.

"You listen here, you old geezer! I've only know you for a half an hour and already you've pissed me off more times than I can count! So you listen here, you bastard! You have no right to call Cordelia annoying. She's an innocent child that simply loves Elliot because he saved her from being forced to live on the streets! You have no compassion and an inability to love! All you people do! I cannot believe that you people are even still alive!" Alyss shouts in a rage as she felt a hand on her shoulder. She then looked back at the other girls who were looking at her with solemn looks.

'Of course they also do not understand either… my coldhearted chains could never feel love, that which a human can.' She thought bitterly before Efa stepped forward.

"Alyss… Please calm down. It's alright that they don't understand because that's how all ways of life are." Efa says with a warm smile as he took her hand. "If Alyss believes love will save Elliot then so be it." He adds giving her hand a slight squeeze.

"It not that it'll save anyone but it gives hope that one will be saved…" Alyss says with a slight pained look on her face. 'Without people that love you, you feel completely and utterly alone and you become distrusting so when there are people that love you, you do not believe it and ignore it. So you must love in order to be loved…' She thought lowering her eyes. "You people don't love…You people don't love anything so you cannot save anything." She shouts with an annoyed look on her face.

"And you do, my lady?" Break interjects causing her to glare at him before she turned away from them and stormed up stairs.

"Ah! Alyss-san!" Efa shouts running after her and Oz followed him.

"That will be our answer then… Alyss obviously doesn't like you people and Cordelia is now under Rakkel's guardianship until Elliot returns." Zelda states with a calm look on her face as Rishima smirked.

"That's foolish! Do you not worry about your daughter's safety?" Gilbert questions with a slight glare on his face as he stared at Zelda. Zelda simply walked over to the bar and went behind it only to retrieve a hunting rifle.

"I can protect my own daughter… If those men wish to take her I will fill them with led." Zelda says cocking the gun with a calm look on her face.

"Just because we are women, doesn't mean we are helpless, you know. We're not the delicate noble women you are familiar with." Rishima says leaning back in her seat with a proud look on her face.

"Noble woman or not… The people that took Elliot aren't people that you can take down with a mere gun." Gilbert states harshly as he glared at the women before Rakkel moved forward and stood in front of Gilbert with a slight apologetic look on her face.

"Gilbert-sama may be right, but a woman… no… a mother, a good mother, will love her child no matter what he or she is, does, or says. Zelda's determined to protect her child because she is a good mother... You cannot deny her the desire to protect and to take care of her child." Rakkel says softly as Gilbert frowned slightly.

"I'm afraid I do not understand anything you are saying…" Gilbert says coolly as the woman smiled in a sad but understanding way.

"Yes, I figured as much." She says gently before motioning then to a table. "Why don't we calmly have a seat and find a median for this situation. It'd be the best way to get to an understanding without all of this shouting, right?" She says gently and Gilbert glanced at Break before nodding.

"Alright…"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Hou…You're awake, little Nightray boy?" Lotti says with a smile as she finished changing the bandages on Elliot's arm. Elliot glared at her without a word and she frowned at his coldness towards her as he sat up and looked around the room before sighing.

"Leo took me, right?" Elliot states coldly already knowing the answer as he moved his feet slightly and sighed in annoyance. 'Chaining my feet to the bed… That's acting a bit desperate, isn't it, Leo?' He thought closing his eyes.

"You are to call him Master Leo or Leo-sama… He's not to be called in such familiar ways nor are you to address him in any other rude manner." Lotti states putting the ointments and bandages back into the first aid box.

"Alright then, I can do that? Would you be so kind to give him a very important message?" Elliot says with a polite smile as Lotti nodded. He continued to smile as he flipped her 'the bird' and said. "Unshackle me, you ass-whole, or I'll crack _tits_' head open!" And with that all that was heard was the sound of Lotti's hand against Elliot's face.

"Who are _you _calling' _tits_?" Lotti shouted with the top of her lungs and Elliot pointed to her and she slapped him again.

'Tsk… All she is doing is slapping me. I expected at the least she's cut me a little.' Elliot thought in annoyance. "If you weren't such a provocative person I would be calling you such things… but even back at Ludwig when we first met you had those things hanging out all over Oz. It-" Elliot goes to say but Leo walked into the room and Elliot scoffed. "Damn it…" He muttered looking away from the woman.

"What's going on in here?" Leo asks calmly and Lotti simply stayed silent.

"I was complimenting Lotti's services." Elliot says casually causing the woman to flinch before her face went red with anger and embarrassment. She then cleared her throat and excused herself before she left.

"Thanks for changing my bandages." Elliot says causing Lotti to look back at him with a slight glare because she could see the taunt in his eyes.

"O-Of course, it was master's orders!" She states before leaving the room and Leo walked over and sat down onto the bed looking at Elliot's cheeks.

"What on earth did you do?" He states not the least bit surprised at the site of the welts on Elliot's face and the boy simply scowled and looked away from him.

"It's really none of your business, now is it?" Elliot says before Leo scowled and jabbed his finger into Elliot's cheek causing the boy to hiss. "What the hell was that for?" He growled slapping Leo's hand away.

"Be glad I went for the slap and not your arm." Leo states coldly moving his hand down so it was by his side.

'I would have preferred that…' Elliot thought with a slight scowl. "Tsk…Whatever. I'm not interested in playing childish games with you. Untie me, I need to go make sure Cordelia's okay. I'm sure what you did, caused her to throw a fit." Elliot says quietly and Leo scowled at him.

"You're in my home now, Elliot. Here I have the upper hand…and you will answer every single one of my questions." Leo states with a serious look on his face.

"Ah, so that was your real intent of bringing me here… I thought it was because I was injured!" Elliot says with a sigh causing Leo to flinch before looking at him with thinned pupils.

"That was the reason… And since you're here I figured I'd make you answer the questions you weren't letting me ask and the questions you refused to answer." Leo says turning and moving over to a table that was off to the right of the bed, grabbing a chair before returning to the side of the bed.

"Tsk…I already told you I wasn't answering questions." Elliot says coolly and Leo frowned.

"Vincent said if you didn't play with me he was going to let the other's torture you, Elliot. I don't want that but I want answers." Leo says leaning back against the back of the chair. "Besides if you answer my questions then I might let you go." Leo says with a bright smile on his face. 'Or at least take the shackles off.' He thought giggling slightly. "Well, what do you think? Will you play along?" He asks looking at Elliot who looked un-amused.

"I think you need a good punch in the face." Elliot states holding up his fist before he fell back onto the bed. "But this is my good punching arm and it's currently injured so, you're out of luck…And I'm not answering any questions… so call those stupid servants of yours and tell them to go crazy. I won't even struggle…" He states causing Leo to flinch before he scowled at him but stayed silent for a few moments before he sighed and looked down at his hands that were folding neatly on his lap.

"Elliot…How did you escape that room?" Leo says calmly waiting for Elliot to answer but there was nothing but silence. "How did you escape that room without severely burning and or killing yourself, Elliot? The only way in was blocked and we had to use Equus to escape, how did you escape?" Leo say with a serious look on his face as he looked back up at Elliot who was staring at the ceiling with hardened eyes. Leo, even with all of the time he spent separated from his master, could still tell Elliot was recalling what had happened back then but refused to speak the words. "Elliot, answer me or I'm not going to let you go." Leo states softly, watching Elliot's eye flicker toward him before they moved back up to the ceiling. "Elliot!" Leo says loudly knowing the boy was ignoring him as he leaned forward on his chair. He waited for Elliot to answer but the boy did not. 'Again… He's ignoring me…Ignoring his friend. He-He… Why the hell is he ignoring me?' Leo thought in annoyance as he heard Elliot start humming 'Satique' causing Leo to flinch. "Stop it! Stop humming and answer me!" Leo shouts watching Elliot tilt his head to the side and the moment his slate colored eyes met Leo's dark one Leo felt a pang of guilt. 'What's with that look…? I'm not doing anything wrong.' He thought knowing that his words were not quite true, but he wants to try to believe them none the less.

"This melody…It was my present to you…" Elliot whispered with an emotionless voice as Leo felt even guiltier for some reason. "As proof of our eternal friendship…right?" He says softly and Leo scowled and stood. He felt his body shaking as he walked to the door.

"If we're friend, then, why don't you answer my questions? A friend would answer them…" Leo shouts feeling his body shake as he leaned against the door wait to see if Elliot spoke but the man did not so he left the room with the intent to calm down.

"Not when they're treated like a prisoner, Leo." He says softly sitting up and pulling the covers off of his legs. "Now let's see if I learned anything from Alyss." He mutters pulling a pin out of his pocket. 'They didn't even check to see what I had in my pockets… These guys have gotten sloppy over the years… Heh… Maybe, it's because that one last sealing stone, but I'll be damned if I let them completely taint Leo…' He thought silently closing his eyes as he listened to the sound of the lock to the shackles made.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"You got upset and left the room?" Vincent says calmly as he poured Leo some tea and nodded.

"He was humming Satique… and said things that pissed me off." Leo says softly as he leaned forward and took the cup off the table.

"Ah, do you believe that this is really the young Nightray boy, Leo-sama?" A voice calls from the doorway and Leo glanced over his shoulder at the red haired man, Rufus Baruma. Leo scowled at him with a silent gaze.

"Of course we do… He, after all, he's my little brother and I can tell an imposter apart from my own brother." Vincent says rather calmly and Leo blinked and went back to drinking his tea.

'That's a lie… You were the one denying that it was my brother up until we brought him back here.' Leo thought closing his eyes as he tasted the bitter liquid. "If you do not believe us why not speak to him yourself, Baruma." Leo states casually as he set his cup back down.

"You would allow that?" Rufus asked with a slight amused look on his face as Leo stood.

"With our watch… Besides there is undeniable proof on that boy's body that he's my brother or at least it leans more toward it being him." Vincent says calmly as let out a soft chuckle as Leo looked at him curiously.

"Really, Shall we go see him then?" Rufus says with a sight intrigued smile and Leo stood with a small nod curious to see what Vincent had mentioned.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Almost got it…" Elliot muttered as there was a knock at his door and he cursed slightly before hiding the pin under his pillow. 'I suck at this…' He thought sighing as the door was open and he saw Leo, Vincent, and Rufus Baruma, not that he was surprised at the last one. "Leo… Why did you bring that bastard here?" Elliot questions as Leo looked at him with serious eyes.

"My, you're not surprised at all to see me here are you? Were you already told of my betrayal?" Rufus asks with a slight curious voice and Elliot scoffs.

"Nope… Not one word about you. Not that I really care whose side you are on…" Elliot states coolly shifting his legs slightly. "Oh and who ever thought it'd be a good idea to put shackles on my legs is a huge ass… and they need to have theirs kicked." Elliot states with a harsh glare at Vincent already having a feeling that it was his idea but the man simply chuckled.

"My, you're full of energy little brother…Are you ready to answer some questions, Elliot? My master would really like for you to." Vincent says watching Elliot sigh before he crossed his arms.

"I told you that I am not answering any questions. It's none of your business!" Elliot states coolly as Vincent moved forward and put his hand on Elliot's head.

"Then why not show, Leo-sama and Baruma-sama what you have hiding here." Vincent says tapping the right side of Elliot's chest.

"What do I have hiding there?" Elliot says confusedly with an eye brow raised.

"Something that proves you're Elliot Nightray." Vincent says with a slight smile and Elliot rolled his eyes.

"Is that what this is about? You people are stupid. The only thing that's on my chest is a scar…" Elliot states coldly and he noticed Leo flinch at his words. 'Right… A scar I have because Leo saved me from dying the first time.' Elliot thought touching his chest. "It's not a big deal… I don't know why you people are trying to figure out who I am. It's not really that important…" Elliot says with a slight frown on his lips and Leo scowled.

"Of course it is! Why are you acting like an idiot?" Leo growls under his breath.

"Well, then if you do not mind would you play along with us?" Rufus says with a slight amused look on his face.

"What would you mean by that? I'm still here aren't I? I think I'm playing along quite nicely." Elliot says coolly and Rufus chuckled at his words.

"Well, since you're playing along, won't you show us?" Vincent says and Elliot frowned before looking toward the window.

"I said I was playing nicely but I never said about playing by the rules." Elliot says casually as he titled his head to the side.

"Then are we going to have to force you to play along." Vincent says with a slight smirk and Elliot went to push Vincent away but the man ripped his shirt open, exposing the scars on his body from the Humpty Dumpty.

"Tsk… You people are annoying. Can't you people let the dead lie?" Elliot questions with an annoyed look on his face and he noted Leo looked really angry at his words.

"Choose your words better Elliot!" Leo hissed in annoyance as Elliot sighed and pulled his shirt closed, even though all the buttons were gone and it would not stay closed.

"Fine…Whatever,_ Master_ Leo." Elliot states watching Rufus cover his mouth with his fan obviously amused.

"That's not funny!" Leo shouts glaring at Elliot as he moved forward. "Why are you being such a jerk? I'm just trying to find out what happened to you!" Leo continues as he stopped at the foot of the bed.

"As if I'd tell someone, who left me for dead, anything!" Elliot shouts glaring at Leo who had a startled look on his face. Elliot watched the emotions flow through Leo's face as the teen's anger turned into hurt.

"I think the two of us should leave and let them work out their lovers quarrel." Vincent states calmly with a chuckle as Elliot shot him a harsh glare.

"Shut your trap, Vincent!" Elliot growls as Rufus and Vincent left the room.

'Great… They left me with him…He's not one to draw blood when angry but damn it.' He thought scowling as he watched Leo staring at the ground with trembling eyes.

"Why…Why did you say that?" Leo grumbled closing his eyes as Elliot shifted slightly as he waited to see what Leo would do. "Elliot…why did you say that…you said that you weren't angry at us..." Leo says quietly as he looked up at Elliot with slightly pleading eyes. 'He…He said he didn't blame us… He said that it wasn't my fault.' He thought feeling a stab of guilt in his chest.

"I'm not angry at you for leaving me there… I'm angry that you won't listen to my request and leave me alone! You, Gilbert, and Oz…you all won't just let me live with my daughter and the Barathrum family!" Elliot states with a stone like stare as Leo stared back at him with pain clear in his eyes.

"That's because Elliot's…" Leo goes to say but stops and lowers his head. 'Elliot's my master.' He thought biting his lips. "Elliot was my master…Elliot was my master and I let him die. A servant…A servant should never out live his master…That's what the books always said…Elliot, you died but…but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't die." Leo muttered walking over to the bed and collapsing beside it. "It's because I was a Baskerville, Elliot. I wanted to die but I couldn't…I'm so glad Elliot's alive, I want to protect him." He whispered softly as Elliot watched Leo look up at him with tired and pleading eyes.

"I don't need protection, Leo…" Elliot whispered coldly and Leo scowled.

"Then what was that thing that attacked you earlier today? It could have killed you! You could have died!" Leo states jumping forward so he looked Elliot in the eyes.

"I could have taken care of it…" Elliot says softly and Leo grabbed his injured arm and squeezed it. Elliot flinched and glared at Leo with an annoyed look.

"What's this then, Elliot?" Leo whispered harshly squeezing it before Elliot let out a small growl. "It's an injury...one that that monster gave you… One that was so deep we needed to stick it up! One that could have killed you if it was left unchecked…!" Leo says as his voice rose as he noticed that there were red spots forming on the bandage and he gasped and let go of Elliot's arm with a shocked look in his eyes.

"And one that keeps me from punching you so hard that your nose bleeds." Elliot says under his breath as he watched Leo stand up and step backwards.

"I'm going to get a first-aid to fix that up." Leo says quietly before leaving the room and Elliot sighs, listening to the door shut.

"I'm sorry for upsetting you but you know, you're temper is actually useful." Elliot muttered pulling the bandages off of the ripped stitching. 'They didn't even bother with the skin…' He thought grimacing as he pulled the ripped broken stitching out of his wound. 'Time to break these shackles…' He thought silently as the door opened back up and he growled silently dropping his hand.

"You think you could refrain from angering my master." Lotti says quietly as she walked over and began fixing the wound back up.

"I cannot help it if your master loses his temper while speaking to me in a polite conversation." Elliot says coolly and Lotti dumped some alcohol on the wound causing him to hiss and she let out a slight chuckle.

"If you would just do as you say you could be back with that little girl." She says coldly and Elliot scoffs.

"Do you really think that I'd believe that you people would let me go at the end of this? The minute Leo's done with me…ha…you people would cause an 'accident' that would get rid of me." He states casually and Lotti began to rewrap the wound. "You sure work fast…" Elliot adds causing Lotti to pull a knife out on him.

"Enough with your talk… Say another word and I will give you an 'accident'." She growls in annoyance before throwing Elliot's arm down. "I'll bring you your dinner when it's ready." She says before leaving the room and Elliot sighed.

'I don't want any of you people's food.' He thought coldly as he looked down at the sheets and saw a bit of his blood had soaked into the sheets. A smile slowing crept onto his face as he pulled out the pin from under the bed and stuck it into the center of the spot. When he pulled it out the blood followed the needle and he smirked. "Like I told them… I'm playing nice but I am not playing by the rules." He muttered as he threw the covers away. "Time for round two."


	10. Chapter 10

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**_Chapter 10_**

"Say, Mister… when do you think they're going to let my Daddy go?" Cordelia says as she stood in the doorway of the guest room on her apartment to see Gilbert, Alice, and Oz. Gilbert looked up at her with a slight startled look on his face because the child hadn't said one word to them since they had made the deal with Zelda to stay and watch over the two girls. Gilbert was unsure of what to say to her, he was never really good with children, but he knew that she might start crying if he didn't say something.

"Don't worry, Cor-chan, Leo won't hurt Elliot! Elliot's his friend!" Oz says with a bright smile and Gilbert sighed relieved that Oz had said something. "You have nothing to worry about! He'll be home soon, I'm sure of it… Leo couldn't keep Elliot away from such a pretty little daughter." Oz says with a small wink and Cordelia frowned.

"You don't know either…do you?" She says with a slight sad look in her eyes. "Daddy will be sad if the house is a mess so please don't make too big of one, please." She says quietly and Gilbert frowned.

"That girl's smart…" Alice says softly with a slight scowl as Cordelia disappeared into the hall way.

"That's Elliot's daughter for you." Oz says as Gilbert stood. "Gil? What's wrong?" He asks with a slight worried look on his face but Gilbert simply patted his head.

"I'm going to have a cigarette." He says softly as he grabbed his coat and walked out of the room. As he passed Cordelia's room he saw Cordelia curled up on her bed staring at the mirror. He stopped and watched her for a moment before she turned and looked at him.

"Mister… What's wrong?" She asks sitting up and Gilbert smiled slightly.

"Nothing… I'm just stepping out and I thought I should say good night." Gilbert says softly as he held up his pack of cigarettes and Cordelia smiled at him.

"Those are yucky sticks…" She says with a giggle before she frowned. "Mister better be careful there's a bad lady that likes to wander around here at night. She comes and hurts Daddy's loved ones sometimes. Daddy carved those into my doorway and windows to keep the bad lady from hurting me." She says pointing to strange carvings that were on the panel of the door way. "They are on the guest room too because Alyss likes to sleep over. The bad lady comes and uses her claws to cut Daddy when he's sleeping... because Daddy's room is the only one without the markings." Cordelia says softly watching Gilbert examine the markings.

"A bad lady, huh...? Don't worry, Cordelia-san… If that bad lady comes to hurt your Daddy tonight I'll capture her and make sure she won't hurt him ever again, okay?" He says calmly watching the girl smile happily.

"Really?" She says with bright eyes and Gilbert nodded before Cordelia clapped her hands and jumped off the bed. She ran over to him and hugged his leg happily. "Thank you, Mister!" She says bouncing around happily. Gilbert couldn't help but smile gently at the girl, that looked so happy that he was going to deal with this 'bad lady' before he cleared his throat.

"It's time for good girls to go to sleep now… It's almost to the eleventh hour and Elliot will be upset if his daughter did not get to sleep before the next day came." Gilbert says softly and Cordelia froze before she jumped onto the bed.

"Night mister! Watch out for the bad lady, she comes out of the darkest shadows so watch out for those…" Cordelia says before she blew out her candles and went to sleep. Gilbert nodded and whispered to her to have a 'good night's sleep' before he shut the door. He then wandered out of the apartment and to the bar where the girls were all working, wondering as to what the child meant by such a warning.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"A _bad lady…_? She's going on about that again?" Rishima says with a small scowl as Gilbert sat at the bar smoking his cigarette.

"That's just her imagination, Gilbert-sama… She…Well, she has had quite the trauma from when she was a child." Rakkel says calmly with a slight worried look on her face.

"Trauma?" Gilbert says softly

"Her father was being chased after by a deranged woman who wanted his head for her collection. And well, now she's obsessed with the thought that some woman is after Elliot because he's her adopted father." Zelda says coolly as she took a sip of a shot of whiskey, while Gilbert wondered how a woman could drink such a bitter liquid like it was wine.

"That thing is real… That thing's gone after Alyss-chan several times. It's a demon, Auntie Zelda… Only Cordelia is the one that will admit to seeing it." Efa says with a small frown on his lips and Zelda smacked the back of his head.

"You've been listening to that girl's stories too much." Zelda states as she glared at Gilbert.

"But Elliot carved markings on the panels of Cordelia's bedroom." He says with a serious look knowing that Elliot would not do something like that without a reason.

"He did that to comfort Cordelia… She was so hysterical about it, Elliot carved those into the panel of her doorway, telling her it was a magical seal and that the _witch_ as he calls it, would not be able to enter her room. Elliot loves his daughter… So, he wants her to feel comfortable in her own home. Isn't that normal?" Rakkel says softly and Gilbert nodded slightly.

"Believe me, Nightray. It's just a figment of that girl's imagination." She says quietly and Gilbert nodded gently, still worried about what the girl said. He didn't understand why but he felt that it wasn't just his gut telling him it was true. He knew that the girl wasn't lying.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"So, he refused to eat…" Leo asks softly watching Lotti scowl at the floor.

"Yes, he said he wasn't hungry and that he was just going to sleep." Lotti says with a small huff, angry that the boy refused to eat when her master so kindly requested it of him. "I don't know why he's being stubborn." She says crossing her arms as Leo stood with a slight frown.

"I suppose I should try talking to him again." Leo states with a small sigh. 'A lot of good that'll do, though... He hates me.' He thought with a slight sad sigh as he went to the door but Vincent stopped him.

"My Lord maybe we should just let it lie today. You've already tried to talk to him several times and he has refused." Vincent says softly as Leo scowled and looked up at him with worried eyes before he nodded.

"I think I will retire to bed as well then." Leo says quietly before he left the room and began to walk down the hall. He got half way to his room when he changed his mind and started going toward the room he was keeping Elliot in. Just as he passed the piano room he heard the sound of a piano key being hit and he opened the door, only to see no one was in the room. Walking over to the piano he saw the top was opened and the cover to the keys was opened, the ivory and ebony shining in the moon light. 'What on earth…' He thought with a dark stare directed at the keys, which looked as if they had been dusted off with someone's fingers, before he ran his fingers over them. 'I'll have to ask the servants if someone was in here…' He thought quietly as he turned to walk away and noticed the lights were acting strange in the room.

They were avoiding the corner furthest from the door and from the window's light, leaving it pitch black. He was unsure of what it was but his curiosity caused him to move closer. As he moved closer he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end and he got goosebumps. He stopped when he felt his throat go dry. He wasn't sure what was causing his body to react like this but the lights continued to avoid that area which made him wonder what was there. He was almost within arm's length of it when he heard a noise causing him to jump and turn. There in front of him was a cat. It was entirely back except for the white spot on the right side of its face and at the end of its tail. It looked at him with black eyes and let out a slight yowl as if warning him before he sighed.

"Just a cat… How the hell did a cat get in here?" Leo mutters picking up the cat and glancing back at the corner of the room and the lights were there floating without a care. 'Geez, I must be hallucinating.' He thought petting the cat gently. "So, what's your name? And how did you get in here?" He whispers as the cat jumped out of his arms and ran over to the piano. It let out a soft mew before it jumped onto the stool. Leo walked over to the piano curiously wondering what the cat was trying to do as it pawed at one of the keys. When Leo did nothing it let out another meow and jumped on the piano, making as much noise as it could. Leo flinched before grabbing the cat and pulling it off the piano. "What the hell is wrong with this stupid cat?" Leo growled throwing it to the ground and it ran off somewhere. 'I haven't touched a piano since the last time Elliot and I played the piano.' He thought staring at the key the cat was pawing at. He reached out and pressed the key but no sound came out and he frowned slightly. 'It's broken…' He thought silently before sighing and looking back toward the corner with a slight worried look before shrugging it off, heading to his room.

Letting the cat wander freely, because for all he cared the cat would become Bandersnatch's breakfast in the morning, he went to his sleeping quarters and dressed himself for bed. He then laid himself down under the comforter and sighed because he was never one to fall right to sleep but he knew if he did not sleep he'd collapse at some point and that would earn him a scolding from Lotti. But as he slowly fell into slumber he didn't even seem notice that the lights were fleeing the room and an absolute darkness was forming.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Awe, come on, Mister! Grow a pair and dance with me!" Rishima shouts drunkenly as she tugged on Gilbert's arm as the woman laughed at her actions. Gilbert only let his face grow bright red and fight against the girls grasp.

"Bu-But Rishima-san… You're much too young and I do not know how to dance to such songs." He says almost getting tugged out of his seat by the girl.

"And you are no fun! Come on, Mister. You gots tah know how tah dance with a gal." Rishima says as Gilbert tried to pull away causing the girl to stumble forward and land on him.

"Miss, please let go of me!" He says glancing away from the girl, too embarrassed to even look at the person, now sitting on his lap.

"Go on Nightray! She's already sixteen! She's considered an adult in your world, so why not?" Zelda says with a laugh, enjoying herself and Gilbert discomfort.

"Ma'am, this is your sister!" Gilbert shouts with an even darker shade of red forming on his face causing Rakkel to giggle.

"Gilbert-sama is too much of a gentleman to take advantage of a young girl." She says causing the man she was serving to laugh warmly.

"That sister of yours she's a handful at times. There out'ta be more men like you, sir." He says with a jolly laugh and Gilbert sighed feeling that he wasn't going to get to go back upstairs to where his master was.

"Here, allow me, Gilbert-kun." Efa says appearing out of nowhere, pulling Rishima off of his lap and started dancing with her. Gilbert sighed in relief as he planned to thank the boy later for saving him.

'These people are quite the characters…' Gilbert thought glancing at the other two girls slightly relieved that he didn't have to embarrass himself any longer as he stood. "I think I'm going to check on the others." He muttered leaving the women to take care of things downstairs. As he went upstairs he noticed Alyss standing at the top of the stairs and stopped four steps away from her. "Hello, Alyss-san…What's the matter? Did something happen?" He asks her softly and she frowned at him.

"Kali escaped my room; I just wanted to make sure she didn't go try and scare you…" She says quietly and Gilbert frowned remembering how he reacted when he met Cordelia and Alyss's pet cat.

"Ah, I see…Um…I haven't seen her." Gilbert says, cautiously looking around the room.

"She's not in the building…The window was open. She's outside somewhere…Don't worry, Gilbert-kun." Alyss says softly letting a slight smile form on her lips. "Have you come back up to check on us?" She asks and Gilbert nodded returning her smile.

"Yes, that's correct." He says before he turned to enter Elliot's apartment.

"May I come, check on Cordelia, with you?" She asks with a slight curious tilt to her head.

"Of course, Alyss-san…" Gilbert replies gently as he entered the apartment and Alyss followed him in, shutting the door as she did so. She then walked to Cordelia's room as Gilbert went to check on Oz and Alice. Alice was fast asleep on the bed and Oz was reading a book in the chair beside it. When Gilbert entered the room he put the book down and smiled.

"Hey Gilbert, you have fun?" Oz says with a cheeky smile as if Gilbert was doing something other than smoking.

"I had a conversation with the Barathrum family." He says casually as he glanced at the panels to the door way, noting that there were similar carvings on the door, just like in Cordelia's room.

"I see… That's it?" Oz says with a small pout and Gilbert nodded.

"Yes…I was planning on checking on the kid after I made sure you two were okay." He says calmly and Oz smiled, standing from his seat.

"We're peachy…Let's go check on Cor-chan." He says prancing past Gilbert and the man could have sworn that there were flowers floating around the boy's head.

"Right…" He says touching the marking with a cautious look before he glanced at Alice. 'It's just something Elliot did to comfort his daughter… they have no meaning.' He thought before leaving the room to follow Oz to the girl's room. When they got there they found Alyss holding the girl who was sobbing and trembling as if something had attacked her.

"What happened?" Oz says moving over to Cordelia and Alyss.

"She just had a nightmare…" Alyss says as she loosened her grip on Cordelia slightly and the girl pulled away from her.

"Mister! Mister! The bad lady! The bad lady's going after Leo-san! She knows Leo-san's going to stop her! She's going to hurt him, Mister! We have to go find him! We have to help!" Cordelia cries crawling to the edge of her bed as Gilbert frowned. More tears formed in her eyes before she climbed off of her bed and started shouting for Kali.

"Kali isn't here, Cordelia." Alyss calls trying to pick the girl up but she wormed herself away from her.

"Then Kali went to Daddy! Kali always knows were Daddy is! That's why Cordelia took Kali in! Kali's a good kitty! She'll come if I call and then she'll take us to Leo-san and we can save him before the bad lady hurts him!" Cordelia says quickly and Alyss sighed.

"Let it be, Cordelia… If the bad lady wants to kill that person, then so be it. As long as it is not hurting Elliot, let it be!" Alyss says coldly causing the girl to stop dead in her tracks.

"Alyss-san, is that something you should say? I mean Cordelia's really worried…" Oz says as Cordelia let out a whimpering sound. "Cor-chan…Don't cry." He says as Cordelia looks at Alyss.

"Daddy would be mad if he heard you say that…He'd call you a little spoilt princess and storm out to protect Leo-san!" Cordelia shouts stomping her foot as she moved to the living room and crawled under the couch.

"Um… Cordelia-san, please come out from under there." Gilbert says with a nervous look on his face as Cordelia came out wearing a black cloak and holding Elliot's sword. "What on earth are those doing under there?" He says in shock that Elliot would put his sword under the couch.

"Cordelia hid them there… Daddy doesn't know." She says as she's grabbed by Alyss.

"It's time to go back to bed, Cordelia! You're getting way too worked up over a _nightmare_!" She says with a worried tone but Cordelia swung the sword causing her to jump back. "Cordelia, that's enough! Do you want me to tell your Daddy that you were misbehaving?" She states as Cordelia glared at her.

"Do you want me to tell Daddy that you said that Leo-san could just go die! Or how about I tell him all the other things I heard you say! Alyss-neesan is nothing but a spoilt little brat! It's no wonder everyone that Alyss-san loved died!" Cordelia shouts sticking her tongue out at Alyss before bolting out the door despite Gilbert and Oz's attempt to grab her.

"Cordelia wait!" Gilbert shouts following after her and Oz went to do the same but stopped when he noticed Alyss hadn't moved and looked really upset.

"Alyss-san?" He whispers as she looked up at him with tears in her eyes before she turned away from him.

"Just go get her back before she hurts herself!" She states before she moved off into the hallway to the bedrooms. She stayed in the hallway until she heard Oz leave the apartment and she collapsed onto the ground. "J-Jack…Was it really my fault?" She whispered closing her eyes letting tears drip out of her eyes.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Damn it…" Gilbert mutters standing in the middle of a street, panting, as he scanned the area for Cordelia. 'How the hell does she move so fast?' He thought glaring at the darkness as he saw movement and the next thing he knew Break was standing in front of him holding a very angry Cordelia and the sword.

"It seems I've caught our run away." Break says with amusement as Cordelia scream pushing at his face.

"Let go of me!" Cordelia shouts as she tried to bite Break but he handed her to Gilbert.

"I was tempted to follow her to see where she went but I sensed that she had no clue where she was going." Break says with a slight chuckle as Cordelia glared at him.

"I know exactly where to go, you spook!" Cordelia shouts struggling to get out of Gilbert's grasp. "I'm going to help Daddy! Daddy's got to kill that bad lady now! She's going to hurt Leo-san if he doesn't." She shouts kicking at Gilbert and Break moved forward holding out a piece of candy.

"Now…now, there's a good lass…Didn't your daddy ever tell you that if you try to overly protect your loved ones, or if you depend too much on those loved ones, you become a knife that pierces their hearts, you stupid child? Why do you think that this Leo person is the way he is? Hmm…" Break asks only for Cordelia to kick him in the chin.

"You're the one that's stupid Mister! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Stuuupid Miiiiisssstor!" Cordelia shouts struggling even more. "I am way smarter than you people! I know a lot more! Don't take advantage of me just because I am small!" Cordelia shouts as Gilbert sighs and pats her head.

"You're exactly like Elliot…" Gilbert mutters as he imagined how Elliot was when he was a small child and someone picked him up when he didn't want to be picked up. "Let's go back to your apartment, Cordelia-san… You're under house arrest, remember? I'll deal with this bad Lady but you need to go to bed!" He says knowing Break was probably about ready to kill her as the girl shouted that she didn't want to go.

"Babysitting children…This is such a bother." Break mutters rubbing his chin. 'This child is not as stupid as she looks though.' He thought scowling slightly as he followed Gilbert back to the apartment.


	11. Chapter 11

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**_Chapter 11_**

_It was dark and there was an ominous scent of smoke then suddenly there was nothing no smells, no sounds, nothing. He sat up from his lying position and looked around not finding the place he was in very familiar._

_"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall… Humpty Dumpty had a great fall…" A voice of a young girl sung quietly as Leo blinked and turned his head to see a girl with long black hair with a silver section on the left side, that covered her right eye, and going down to her knees. She sat on a ledge kicking her feet as she looked at a doll that was in her hands. "All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again…" She sung as a singed doll fell to the ground. Leo examined it and noticed that where several gashed all over the dolls body causing the stuffing to fall out. He picked up the doll and it crumbled to ash in his hands. "That doll is no good…" She says softly. "It was burnt to ash by my master..." She says kicking her feet slightly as she began to sing again. "Humpty Dumpy burnt to ash… Wanders alone, until light they'll clash…" She sung before stopping as if trying to think of something that went with the previous line._

_"Who are you?" Leo asks gently and the girl looked at him curiously. She couldn't have been any older than twelve._

_"Me? I am…hmm…I think my name should stay a secret." She says with a slight playful smile on her lips. "I found something of yours though so I thought I'd give them to you before the bad lady came and hurt you." She says holding out her hands that were clasped around something. Leo held out his hands with a confused look before she placed a pair of large, round, bifocals into his hand._

_"My glasses…" He says with wide eyes as he stared at the object in his hands. 'But I lost them in Isla's manor when I was knocked out!' he thought closing his hands around the object and they felt real_

_"I found them… I found them while watching what happened four years ago. It wasn't fair for such a precious gift to get left behind so I picked them up." She says with a bright smile on her lips._

_"Ah, I see…" He says looking down at the glasses. "Why were you watching us?" He asks the girl and she giggled._

_"Because I cannot leave this place…" She says jumping down and sitting beside him. "At least that's how it used to be." She says leaning back against the wall. "I was sad that things happened like that though… I couldn't do anything about it but I got a gift that was better than anything. So, I will do anything to make sure you and Elliot-sama are together so history won't repeat!" She happily says, clapping her hands together._

_"You know nothing about us though… and I don't even know where we are." Leo states coolly and the girl tilted her head slightly._

_"What do you mean? We're in your bedroom… Where else would we be?" She says casually as she looked around the room. "Well considering that I am here in my true form it looks a lot different." She says with a small sigh. "All the lights ran away…" She said softly as she noticed him looking around with startled eyes. "You've never been to the abyss, have you?" She says leaning forward watching him shake his head. "There are no lights there's just multi-colored darkness... It's a horrible thing to see… It's even sadder than this absolute darkness." She says as she saw Leo looking down at his glasses. "What's wrong, Leo?" She asks with her head tilted._

_"I was just wondering something…" He says softly and the girl tensed slightly as if she knew what he was going to ask. "You said you were watching us…So, can you tell me how Elliot escaped from that room?" He asks looking at her but she tensed up and lowered her head. Leo leaned forward with a slight worried look on his face as tears fell from her eyes._

_"He did not…" She whispered pulling her hands up to wipe her tears as the lights started to appear around them and the girl began fading away._

_"What?" Leo says confusedly, not wanting to interpret what she just said. _

_"She's gone…" _She says before she disappeared and Leo found himself staring up at the top of his bed's canopy.

"He did not… She's gone." Leo whispered as he sat up and looked around the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary and the lights were floating around just as they always were. 'I-That's not true. It was just a dream.' He thought standing from his bed in order to go to Elliot when he heard something it the ground. He looked down and saw the glasses the girl had given him, the glasses which had been lost for four years. "Elliot…" He whimpered with wide eyes before he bolted out of the room and down the hall to Elliot's room. He pushed the doors open, not caring about the noise it made as he gasped and saw the empty bed and the open window. 'He's gone…' He thought with wide eyes as panic set in "Elliot!" Leo shouted running to the window and looking out of it. 'Where did he go? How did he escape?' He thought with a slight scowl.

'_This child of Misfortune… won't lie down and die.' _The girl, from Leo's dream, says with a slight giggle as Leo turned around looking for the girl and he heard a cat meow and he looked on the bed. And there was the black and white cat watching his with its black eyes shimmering in amusement. _'It's your move, Glen-niichan.'_ The girl's voice says as the cat jumped down off the bed moving over to the window. _'Ah, Leo, you should watch out for the Kijo… she might cause some horrible things to happen to you. But don't worry; I won't let anything happen to you or our master.' _The girl's voice says before the cat jumped out of the window and disappeared.

"My Lord?" A voice says as Leo turned to see Lotti standing in the door way.

"Charlotte…" Leo says casually with a small frown on his lips. "Elliot's escaped…" He says quietly and the woman flinched before shifting back slightly.

"We are aware of that and Vincent, as well as several others, has gone after him, My Lord." She says softly glancing to the side. "Um… Is everything alright, My Lord?" She asks and Leo shook his head.

"I'm just fine…" He says leaving the room with a cold look in his eyes causing the woman to move out of his way. 'I don't know what that girl was or what she meant by telling me that but I'm not going to sit here and wait for them to bring Elliot back.' He thought gripping his fists together. "Jabberwocky…Let's go." He mutters before exiting the front of manor.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"We finally got her to go to sleep." Gilbert says with an exhausted look on his face and Oz laughed slightly.

"She really must have been frightened by that nightmare. I kind of feel bad for Elliot; he must really have his hands full." Oz says with a slight laugh and Gilbert simply let out a sigh of annoyance.

"I'm more surprised that when we came back that greedy rabbit was sharing the bed with that Alyss girl." Gilbert mutters and Oz nodded with a huge smile on his face.

"They kind of looked like sisters sleeping like that." Oz says calmly as he clapped his hands together.

"Don't say that…I don't want two stupid rabbits running around." Gilbert says with a sigh as the front door opened and they saw Elliot standing in the door way.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Elliot growled glaring at the two as Gilbert jumped up to his feet.

"Elliot!" Oz shouts happily jumping on to Elliot and hugging him. "You got away from Leo and Vincent! That's amazing." He says with a bright smile on his lips.

"Tsk… Shut up. I'm just here to get my daughter and we're going…" Elliot says pushing Oz off of him.

"Wha? But we just found you! Where are you going? Why not come to Pandora? Leo won't try to go there." Oz says grabbing Elliot's arm but Elliot threw him into the wall.

"Don't touch me! Do you think that I would tell you where I was going?" Elliot hissed glaring at Oz who frowned and Gilbert stepped forward.

"Elliot… You don't have to be so violent. We just want to make sure you're not hurt…" Gilbert says with a small frown as he moved to make sure his master was alright.

"Oh is that so? Is that the same feeling as four years ago when you all left me behind? …!" Elliot shouts as Gilbert stood in front of Oz.

"Of course no-"

"Elliot! You're back." Alyss's voice calls silencing Gilbert as she bounced forward and hugged the blonde tightly.

"For the moment… I just came for my daughter." Elliot says calmly patting Alyss's hands.

"Does that mean you're going to leave?" Alyss says with a small frown on her lips as Elliot turned and nodded before putting his hand on her head.

"For a little while… A knight can't have the balance of his kingdom fall to pieces… Not when it's so close to becoming nonexistent." Elliot says rubbing her head gently and she stared at his chest with wide eyes before she smiled at him.

"Then so be it…" Alyss muttered softly before she looked at him with serious eyes. "But remember 'Knights of Misfortune' should stick together and take care of their king." She states with knowing eyes taking his hand and pressing the fingers against her lips. "So die without me and I will not forgive you." She says softly nipping at his pointer finger.

"Yes, My Lady." Elliot says with a small chuckle.

"Please stop with the foreplay… You're going to make me sick." A voice says from the hallway and the two turned to see Vincent standing in the hall holding Cordelia.

"Vincent…" Elliot says with wide eyes before they hardened in annoyance. "Why-How did you know I escaped?" He growled watching Vincent cuddle Cordelia.

"We have our ways… As do you it seems." Vincent says with a slight chuckle and Elliot glanced over his shoulder to see two Baskervilles lay an unconscious Gilbert against the wall beside Oz, who had been knocked out by the blow to the wall.

"Don't destroy my apartment…" Elliot states coldly as Vincent chuckled and moved forward.

"Why would I do that? You're my little brother…The one that nobly gave up everything to protect my master." Vincent says with a slight proud look on his face.

"I did nothing for your master..." Elliot states with a serious look in his eyes and Vincent looked at him curiously.

"On the contrary… You-"

"If I am not mistaken your master is Glen, not Leo, so Elliot would have nothing to do with your master." Alyss says interrupting Vincent as she crossed her arms. "And if I am mistaken please correct me." She mutters softly watching Vincent scowl at her.

"Smart little girl…aren't you?" Vincent says quietly with a slight glare on his face.

"Why thank you." She says with a slight smirk on her lips. "You learn a lot while listening to idiotic men talk." She adds with a giggle.

"Watch it you… I am one of those men…" Elliot says tapping Alyss's forehead before he looked at Vincent. "Why did you grab, Cordelia? She won't find it amusing that her precious Uncle Vincent, which I've told her so much about, is using her as a hostage." Elliot says with a slight bored look.

"I'm honored that you would mention me as her uncle…" Vincent says not fazed by his words. "But as for why… If I have her you'll do as I say, won't you?" Vincent says smiling as Elliot sighed and held his hands up beside his head in a 'whatever' gesture.

"Not likely…Cordelia is a very special child…much like her father…" Alyss says casually as she clapped her hands together and Cordelia's eyes opened. The next thing Vincent knew Cordelia had a knife pressed to his throat. "She just full of surprises…" She says as Cordelia smiles brightly.

"Hello Uncle Vincent! Did you meet Kali yet? She went to your house, you know…I told them that Kali went there but no one believed me…" Cordelia says as Vincent went to drop her. "If you drop me I'll slice you from your throat down…Uncle." She says with a giggle as she moved to sit straight up.

"Cordelia's quite the actor, isn't she? To fake sleep and make it believable not only for Gilbert and Oz but you as well." Alyss says watching Elliot move to the couch and pull out his sword.

"Yes, she's quite the little trickster…" Vincent says with a scowl on his lips.

"I wonder when the blind man is going to come and take you three away…Daddy, can we call on him?" Cordelia asks with a curious look in her eyes and Vincent frowned.

"I'm afraid that your spell keeps Equus from entering the apartment or using its powers so if he knows then it may be a while before Pandora members come." Elliot says strapping his sword to his waist.

"It'll be fun to see what he does when he sees we caught three Baskervilles trying to kidnap us." Alyss says calmly letting out a slight giggle.

"I am simply here to retrieve my brother, so my master does not get upset, My Lady." Vincent says with a small scowl.

"Why? The Bad Lady's after your master, you know, should you really be trying to retrieve Daddy?" Cordelia asks with an innocent look on her face.

"Cordelia…get down now before you anger him…" Elliot says calmly. "You wouldn't want to end up like Uncle Fred." He says with a small frown on his lips as he watched Cordelia glance at him and nod.

"Don't worry, Daddy. Kali will help me, if he tries..." She says pushing back and falling out of Vincent's arms and onto her feet. "Kali is my friend and is a good girl... just like Cordelia's a good girl." She says with a happy smile on her lips. "But Uncle Vincent and his friends chose a bad night to come play… Cordelia's in the mood to break the rules." She says with a cutesy smile on her face before she danced over to Elliot and Alyss. "And she's set lots of traps…" She says happily as she stood between Elliot and Alyss.

"You'd be surprised what kind of traps you can make just by learning a little bit of witch craft." Alyss says with a polite smile as she turned to go get something but the next thing she knew there was a gun pointed at her face.

"You'd be surprised how quickly you can get from one place to another when you have a chain." Leo states with an angered look on his face. "And how easy it is to break those little things you call traps." He adds and Alyss's eyes thinned with annoyance.

"Well…Well, if it isn't Glen Baskerville." Alyss says with a bitter voice as Leo pulled back the hammer of his gun and she smirked. "Go ahead and shoot me. You won't make it out of this building without losing an arm and being filled with lead." She says coldly watching Elliot shift slightly and Cordelia glare at Leo.

"I can't say I blame you, Elliot…but I'm not letting you leave like that. You still have answers to give to me…" Leo states calmly and Elliot sighed.

"Take the damn gun off Alyss before you hurt yourself Leo." Elliot says with a slight bored look on his face. 'Or before Alyss hurts you…' He thought giving the girl a warning glare and she simply smiled playfully at him.

"Awe…Elliot's showing you some compassion. You really should listen to him Glen… He's telling the truth." Alyss says watching Leo's hand tremble slightly.

"I am not Glen. My name is Leo…Leo Baskerville." Leo growled under his breath.

"For now…But once your little minions find out who your Child of Misfortune is, you'll be Glen Baskerville, so get used to being called upon by that name." Alyss whispered so only Elliot and Leo could hear. "Then Elliot won't want anything to do with you…and then he'll be all mine." She whispered watching Leo's eyes become possessive.

"As if..." Leo growled firing the gun and Alyss dodged before kicking Leo in the stomach. Leo hit the ground and felt the gun fall out of his hand and he glared up at the girl who was now comforting Cordelia, who started bawling because the noise the gun made.

"Um…Well, this is exactly why I never went out of my way to find you people… Gilbert and Oz are unconscious on my floor. Alyss drop kicked Leo and now Pandora's on its way here to wreck the place…_And_ there's a bullet hole in my god damn wall." Elliot states in annoyance as he glared at Vincent. "Take Leo home… Don't come back and leave me the hell alone! I'm telling those two idiots the same when they wake their asses up!" Elliot states with enraged eyes as he looked at Alyss. "And you…Go back to your room! You're the one that made him fire the gun. Go on, get before the others come in here and see all this." He says watching Alyss flinch before she pouted at him not liking that he was telling her what to do.

"I'm staying the night…Gilbert said I could." Alyss responds in a bratty voice causing Elliot to roll his eyes.

"Fine whatever…But you Baskervilles still have to leave!" Elliot states looking at Vincent, who looked extremely angry at the fact that Alyss had kicked Leo.

"I'm not going, Elliot. I'm not leaving without you…I won't leave without you." Leo states with as he shakily stood and grabbed a hold of Elliot arm. 'I'm not leaving…I'm not…If anyone tries to make me then I'll use Jabberwocky on them.' He thought glaring at Elliot's arm with a determined look on his face.

"Why are you being so stubborn? Why can't you for once listen to me? I'm telling you to leave me alone!" Elliot says ready to kick the boy himself before Leo looked up at him.

"Just what did I do to receive such an order?" Leo shouts glaring at Elliot. "What did I do? Is it because I left you at Isla's manor? If I'd known that you were still alive I…everyone would have agreed to bring you with us. If it's because I am a Baskerville, then I cannot help that! It was decided for me, I didn't have a choice!" He says with a hurt voice as he watched Elliot for any sort of answer in his posture.

"I'm doing it to protect you…" Elliot whispered slightly watching Leo hit his chest.

"I don't need protected!" Leo shouts hitting him again. "What I need…I need you…I need you, Elliot and answers!" He whimpered glaring at Elliot.

"You don't need me, Leo…" Elliot says with an emotionless tone as he put his hands on Leo's shoulders.

"Says who? I'm the one who chooses what I need. And I said that I need you." Leo whispers softly.

"You're making me sick…" Alyss states with a slight growl as she looked at Elliot. "Elliot, just throw him off of you…That bastards obviously faking. I hate when people lie to get what they want." She muttered glaring at Leo.

"I'm not lying!" Leo shouts glaring right back at her and Elliot could sense that Leo was close to summoning Jabberwocky.

"Pay Alyss no mind, Leo…She's just trying to get on your nerves. She cannot help herself, it's in her personality." Elliot says watching the girl beam at him innocently.

"But you don't believe it either." Leo states watching Elliot sighed scratching the back of his head.

"I have no reason to not believe you, do I?" Elliot says quietly watching Leo look at the ground as if trying to think of reasons that Elliot would not believe him.

"I-I'm a Baskerville…That's reason enough isn't it?" Leo muttered under his breath and Elliot simply stared at him with a small frown on his lips.

"If it is for you…then that's fine. I just want to be left alone for now." Elliot states calmly.

"If you want something, it's earned not given to you…" Vincent says with a slight chuckle and Alyss growled at him before Elliot held out his hand to keep her from doing anything.

"Elliot…I can handle this guy. Just give me the kill word and I will." Alyss said under her breath and Elliot stared at Vincent with stern eyes.

"Fine then…I'll go back with you and earn my freedom." Elliot states with a small scowl and Alyss grabbed him.

"You're not serious! Elliot, they're just going to kill you." Alyss shouts holding onto him tightly with fear and anger burning in her eyes. "Believe me! I know, Elliot, don't believe the sweet talk from Leo or any of them!" She says with tears forming in her eyes as Cordelia stepped forward and grabbed Elliot pant leg.

"Daddy's going to be killed…Don't go, Daddy." Cordelia says with a small frown.

"I'm not going to kill him!" Leo shouts glaring at the two girls shocked by the fact they think he'd do such a thing to Elliot. Alyss and Cordelia simply glanced at him with unbelieving eyes.

"I'll go with you…" Elliot says with a serious look on his face. 'They cannot kill the dead…' He thought with a small sigh.

"What, no requests?" Vincent says with an amused look.

"Why make requests when I know they'll be broken?" Elliot questions watching Vincent's smile widen.

"Very Well then… My Lord, Elliot's agreed to come back. Doesn't that please you?" Vincent says with a happy look on his face and Elliot could tell he was completely faking it. Leo simply nodded and watched Alyss let go of Elliot and Cordelia move over to Alyss.

"Cordelia… Be a good girl." Elliot says calmly giving her a small smile and she nodded with a serious look.

"I'll see Daddy tomorrow." Cordelia says reaching up to Elliot and the young man knelt down and hugged her tightly.

"I don't think so…but I promise that I'll be home as soon as possible." Elliot says patting her head and kissing her cheek.

"Okay… I'll keep the house clean." She says with a small smile on her lips.

"That's my girl…" Elliot says with a bright smile on his face and the girl nodded and looked at Leo with pleading eyes. Leo frowned, knowing that she wanted him to say that Elliot could stay but he did not want that.

"Elliot…Let's go." Leo says with a soft voice still upset that Elliot had run away.

"Right…Alyss. Don't falter… Keep your head and guard up." Elliot says with serious eyes.

"Yes, Elliot. I will be a strong little knight…" She says quietly as she raised her hand up against her chest, where her heart was.

"Okay…Take care, princess." He says ruffling her hair. "Tell Efa it's a code white…so he doesn't worry. The others won't care about me at all, so don't worry about telling them about me coming back." Elliot says with a serious look in his eyes and Alyss nodded.

"As you will it..." Alyss says softly picking up Cordelia and Elliot followed Leo and the others out of the room. "My Lord…" She says with cold eyes and there was a cat yowl. "Status, Kali…" She says glaring at the doorway.

"Kijo went to free Elliot-sama and threatened to hurt Leo if he returned to that boy." A young girl's voice says as Alyss turned and saw the silver haired girl, from Leo's dream, sitting on the banister separating the kitchen from the living room.

"So… He went for Leo's sake." Alyss says quietly.

"Daddy's possessive of that Leo-san, so of course he is…" Cordelia says laying her head onto Alyss's shoulder.

"This is part of the reason we left the abyss in the first place…" The girl says with a slight sigh as she kicked her legs slightly.

"Elliot's obsession with that boy has nothing to do with our mission…" Efa's voice huffs as he appeared in the doorway.

"Did Elliot give you orders?" Alyss asks and Efa smiled slightly.

"Protect the princess…" He says playfully and Alyss smiled gently.

"How sweet of him…" She says with a small giggle before she looked at the girl. "What shall we do?" She asks the girl who was drinking from a bottle of vinegar.

"Um…Kali…You're drinking Vinegar." Efa says with shocked look.

"It's good…" The girl says with a slight smile on her lips and Cordelia pouted.

"Daddy's going to be mad that you're drinking from the bottle again!" She says wagging her finger scoldingly.

"Right…Well, we cannot allow Kijo to upset Elliot-sama, so, prepare for operation white." The girl says with a slight frown on her lips as she put down the bottle.

"I'll prepare right away!" Alyss says with a serious look and Kali smiled slightly.

"No, the others will wonder where you went and the Doji will throw a fit. Cordelia and I will go." Kali says jumping off the counter and turning back into the cat.

"Right…" Alyss says calmly setting down Cordelia. "Prepare right away and then sleep for about three hours… It'll be six by then." She says with a nod to Kali as the two went to Cordelia's room. She then looked at Gilbert and Oz's unconscious bodies. "If you say anything to them Alice… I will drag Oz into the abyss and make him the most disgusting looking chain you've ever seen... and make him devour you." Alyss says quietly as Alice appeared in the kitchen.

"How'd you know I was there…? Not even that girl noticed." Alice says quietly as Alyss looked at him and smiled sweetly.

"Elliot noticed you… Just be glad that those Baskervilles didn't, they could have killed you." Efa says walking over to Alyss and standing beside her.

"What are you guys planning…Who was that girl and where is she taking that child tomorrow. Explain it to me!" Alice states in annoyance as Alyss frowned.

"No… and if you say anything to Gilbert, Oz or that worthless Kevin, I will personally kill you and feed you to my master. Do you hear me?" Alyss says watching Alice flinch at the animalistic aura that was forming in the air.

"R-Right…" Alice says glaring at the girl who smiled brightly.

"Great…Well since you hears us, let's be friends." Alyss says clapping her hands together.


	12. Chapter 12

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**Chapter 12**

"So why are you staying here again?" Elliot says leaning against the wall towards the door of the room he was forced to stay in.

"Isn't it obvious?" Leo says with a cold look on his face as he sat on the floor in front of the bed on the floor. "You ran off the last time I let you sleep alone… I'm not taking that chance again." He says calmly as Elliot sighed and slid down to the floor and glared at Leo.

"I'm not sleeping with you in here…" Elliot says with a small scowl on his lips.

"I don't intend to sleep either, so why don't you come over here and tell me a story." Leo says with a slight playful smile to his head and Elliot rolled his eyes.

"I'm just fine over here." Elliot says closing his eyes as Leo sighed.

"Then tell me how you escaped that room four years ago?" Leo says watching Elliot shift slightly and look at him with thinned eyes.

"Don't want to…" Elliot stated gruffly as he pulled his knees up to his chest.

"You're acting like a child, you know that? I'm just trying to find out what happened to you after we got split up!" Leo says with a bit of disappointment but Elliot didn't look at him or say anything. "Do you know how many people were hurt because of what you did?" He questions leaning forward as Elliot glanced at him.

"Tsk…It's surprising to hear those works come from you considering that you probably ended many more lives four years ago." Elliot says coolly.

"It's a servant's duty to reprimand their master's actions." Leo says with a small scowl as Elliot glanced to the side without words.

"Then your servants aren't very good." Elliot states calmly. "And I am not your master."

"That's not true…" Leo growls with hurt eyes as Elliot looked back at him.

"It is, Leo." Elliot says with truth in his eyes causing Leo to slam his hands onto the ground

"It is not! Even if Elliot tells me 'no' I am choosing to be your servant and you cannot change my mind!" He yells with a slight angered expression.

"You're not my servant and I am not your master." Elliot says with a small frown.

"Then what am I?" Leo growls watching Elliot tilt his head slightly.

"I don't really have a say in that…" Elliot says pulling his hand up to his head putting it on his forehead as if to get rid of the headache that was starting to come on.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Leo says watching Elliot stare at him.

"You said you were choosing…and that no one can change your mind." Elliot says casually.

"Tell me!" He growls moving over to Elliot.

"Just forget it... It's not to your agenda anyway...I'd hate to keep you from your business with the Baskerville family." Elliot states as Leo moved over so he was sitting right in front of Elliot.

"I don't give a shit about that... Tell me what you think." Leo says putting his hands on either side of Elliot's head. "You tell me right now or you're never leaving, Elliot. You said so yourself… You're not going to be left alone unless I am satisfied." He states with a slight scowl as Elliot leaned forward.

"Oh, so you want me to satisfy you…" Elliot says with a slight seductive smile curving into his lips causing Leo to blink before he moved back and turned away from Elliot muttering something that Elliot couldn't understand. 'Huh…I guess that threw him off, pretty good...' He thought with a slight sigh as he leaned his head against the wall. "It was a joke, stupid…Get over you're self." He states kicking the teen's back slightly causing Leo to turn back around and glare at him.

"You're even more of an ass than you were four years ago..." Leo growls letting his cheeks burn in embarrassment and Elliot sighed.

"What? Did you _want_ me to do things to you that are vulgar to speak about in public?" Elliot asks watching the blush darken on the boy's cheeks.

"You're trying to make me forget what we were talking about! It's not going to work, so just spill it." Leo accuses watching Elliot frown in disappointment.

"I'm not going to …I've told you that many times that I'm not answering any questions." Elliot says letting out a huff of air.

"Then what will you do?" Leo questions in annoyance.

"I will stay here until you give up trying to find answers and let me go." Elliot says lowering his legs so they lay on the ground.

"Then what will you do? Pandora's after you too, you know." Leo states.

"Whatever happens…will happen." Elliot muttered leaning on his arms, which rested at his side.

"Then why leave me? Stay with me and I'll take care of you… I promise…I'll take care of you the way a good servant should, Elliot. I have the Jabberwocky and all these men now! I'll protect you properly, I swear." Leo says moving forward with serious eyes. "So, please… answer my questions so I can fully understand what happened to you….so I can protect you." He says with his face inches away from Elliot's and the man simply stared at him with shielded eyes.

"You do realize you're sitting between my legs, trying to pledge your loyalty to me none the less…" Elliot says bluntly watching the other male falter slightly.

"I-I…" Leo says lowering his eyes, letting his cheeks burn with embarrassment that had yet to disappear because of what Elliot was implying. "Why is it you're the one being vulgar now?" He questioned waiting for Elliot to push him away or something.

"You're the one that started it." Elliot answered glancing at the empty fire place.

"Again with the acting like a child…" Leo muttered glaring at the person in front of him.

"It's not acting like a child when it's the truth." Elliot states examining the bricks and the way they were made. "And in my defense I have been taking care of a child, so this could be why." He adds glancing back at Leo with a calm look on his face. Leo simply looked back before sighing.

"Fine… Have it your way. At least tell me why you won't answer my questions…and don't say _because I don't want to_." Leo says moving back trying to calm himself down.

"I cannot say..." Elliot says with a serious look on his face causing Leo to scowl annoyed at the man's words.

"You're an ass…" He states about ready to punch the guy for not cooperating with him.

"And you've lost your mind." Elliot retorts with a nonchalant look on his face causing Leo to gape at him.

"I've lost my mind…?" Leo questions with taken back eyes.

"That is what I said." Elliot says as if the other was confused with what he said. Leo shook his head trying to ignore the fact that Elliot just called him 'crazy'.

"Okay… so, I'm crazy! And you cannot speak about what happened to you…Great!" Leo stated with an aggravated look on his face. Elliot simply scowled at him. "Well since you're not going to tell me anything I'm going to make assumptions! You're happy living the way you are, working in a horrid dress shop with a woman that thinks you're a piece of shit, taking care of an spoilt little eight year old that probably will leave after she realize that her _Daddy's_ a family murderer." Leo states with his tone rising but Elliot grabbed the front of his shirt and jerked him forward.

"Shut that mouth of yours, Leo or I'll shut it for you." Elliot states harshly, pulling him up to his feet, as he stood himself. "That's not making assumptions about my past...It's just you trying to piss me off and tell you off! But it won't work, I won't tell you anything." Elliot states glaring at him with cold eyes before throwing him back. "And don't you ever say anything bad about my girls again…Do you hear me, Leo?" Elliot says coldly and Leo scowled.

"So, you're really just going to throw away everything? That's inhuman, Elliot!" Leo says feeling extremely hurt because of Elliot's actions.

"Of course, human nature is twisted and perverse and by refusing to be what Humpty Dumpty and the abyss made me to be I am, showing that I am human...Twisted and perverse!" Elliot says stepping forward. "What about you, Leo?" Elliot says as Leo stared at him with confusion written all over his face. He did not understand what was going on but the dark look in Elliot's eyes made him back off.

"I'm going to make some tea." Leo says turning away from Elliot and leaving the room. Elliot scowled slightly before turning to the window.

"Right…Go have a servant make your damn tea." Elliot muttered under his breath as he stared out into the rising sun. 'My blood was about to boil over and I would have told him everything…" Elliot thought covering his eyes with a slight shamed look. "Of course, it might have cost him with the way my control was slipping." He muttered letting out a sigh, moving over to the bed intending to sleep.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Master didn't sleep at all last night did he Lotti?" the little red head, Lily asks as she walked down the hall of their current hideout.

"No, for some reason he did not sleep, even though that boy was sleeping just fine." Charlotte says with a slight annoyed look on his face as she huffed. "I don't know what about that boy is so special! He treated our master like dirt as a servant so why is he even a matter for our Master." She states as Lily giggled covering her mouth.

"Maybe Master's taken to him." Lily says with a huge smile across her face as Lotti pulled on her cheeks.

"Bite your tongue, you little brat." Lotti hushed as Lily smiled happily before they heard a knocking on the main door.

"Ah, someone's knocking on the door." Lily says looking at Bandersnatch who was licking it lips. "Let's go see who it is!" She says cheerfully as she bounced over to the door. When she opened it she saw a girl about her height holding a wicker basket and hidden behind a red hood.

"I'm little red riding hood and I've come to see my Daddy." A girl's voice says as she pulled down her hood exposing herself to be Cordelia. "Will the big bad wolf let me see him? I wonder..." She says smiling at Lily and Lotti, who stared at her with curious look in their eyes.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"How the heck did this girl find this place?" Lotti questions as she glared at Vincent who was standing off to the side, watching the girl play with a stuffed cat she had brought with her.

"Elliot could have told her…" Leo says calmly as he sat beside the girl watching her as well.

"Impossible, My Lord…There was no time for him to tell her the location." Vincent says moving foreward, knowing that the girl could have a concealed weapon on her like the night prior.

"He could have told that Barathrum girl." Leo stated with a small frown as he recalled the words the two exchanged. 'I must come off as an obsessive jilted lover or something…' He thought with a small sigh as he noticed Cordelia looking at him curiously but when she realized Leo looked back at her she had her toy wave at him happily.

"_Then we should prepare for more visitors, Nyah…_" Cordelia says with a high pitched voice pretending that it was the cat's voice. "Ah but Cheshire no one knows where we went! No one else is going to come!" She says looking at the cat with a small frown.

"Does that cat really talk?" Lily says with shimmering eyes as Cordelia smiled and had her cat wave at Lily.

"_I'm Cheshire; it's a pleasure to meet you!_" Cordelia says in the high pitched voice as she let Lily hold her toy. "You better be careful…Cheshire's a bad kitty. He's like Uncle Vincent…" She says giggling when the man shot her a questioning glance before she noticed the dog Bandersnatch trying to sneak in to see what his contractor was doing.

"Ah, it's the doggy again! Let's play, doggy!" Cordelia shouts happily, jumping off her chair and moving to Bandersnatch who looked at her with thinned eyes.

"Wait! Cordelia-chan, don-" Leo shouts as the dog goes to attack the girl but the girl moved out of the way and jumped on the dogs back causing the dog to fall to the ground with a yelp.

"Go! Doggy Go!" Cordelia shouts with flowers floating around her. "Take me to my king, like a gallant knight and her trusty steed!" she states kicking its sides causing it to whimper again.

"Hey! Don't, you're hurting Bandersnatch!" Lily shouts pushing the girl off of the dog and throwing the toy at her. Cordelia frowned slightly, as she sat on the floor, she didn't cry nor did she push Lily back, she simply sat there holding the toy as she spoke.

"But I sit on Kali all the time…And it doesn't hurt her."

"That poor animal…" Leo mutters shaking his head, surprised that Cordelia wasn't attacked by the chain. "Lily… Can you keep Bandersnatch from attacking this girl? The last thing we need is Elliot going against us because we injured his daughter." He says watching the red head pout.

"Yes, my Lord." Lily says and Cordelia giggled causing Lily to glare at her.

"Aha, the Doggy says _I'm not ever going near that crazy bitch again anyway... She almost killed me_. Hee…hee…The doggy's funny, Lily-san!" Cordelia says with a cheerful look on her face causing Lily to look at her.

"Brat…" Lily growls pulling her chain out of the room and Cordelia frowned before she looked at Leo.

"Leo-san, can I see Daddy now?" She asks walking over and pulling on Leo's jacket.

"Daddy's resting after talking to my master all night." Vincent says calmly making the girl move away from Leo, while watching her pout at him.

"That's a lie…Even if Daddy did stay up all night he'd stay awake because he finds his sleeping patterns extremely important because he has work." Cordelia says with a puff of her cheeks. "Daddy says lying is bad so don't lie to Cordelia." She adds and Vincent smirked slightly.

"Well, I'm sure your Daddy lies all the time." Vincent says calmly as Cordelia scoffed.

"My Daddy doesn't lie…He just doesn't tell the truth." Cordelia states watching the two men stare at her with slight pity.

"Cordelia-chan, that's the same as lying." Leo says calmly kneeling down to look at the girl in the eyes. The girl glared at him before looking away from him.

"But Daddy doesn't lie to me…" Cordelia whispers softly looking at the ground. "Daddy refuses to lie to Leo-san too…everything he's told you is at least a partial truth…" She says smiling at Leo.

"Ah…Is that so?" Leo says with a slight smile playing on his lips. 'He hasn't told me anything I want to know though…' He thought silently as he watching the girl, play with her fingers. "Does Cordelia know how Elliot escaped that room four years?" He asks quietly and Cordelia shook her head.

"Daddy doesn't like to talk about things of the past…Cordelia doesn't either. It makes Daddy and Cordelia sad." Cordelia says in an almost inaudible tone.

"Is that so…" He asks watching the girl nod with an upset look on her face. "I see…Well then that's okay. If it makes Cordelia sad then I won't ask." Leo says smiling at her and Cordelia looked up at him with eyes that seemed almost pleased to hear his words.

"_Cordelia doesn't like being sad, Nyahh…So I'm thankful you won't make her cry, nyahh." _Cordelia says pretending that it was Cheshire again with a bright smile on her face before she froze and her face dropped into a frown. Leo noticed that she started to tremble and her eyes began to fill with fear.

"Cordelia-chan?" He says watching the tears form in her eyes.

"The bad lady's here again…She's going to Daddy." Cordelia whimpers hiding her face behind Cheshire.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Elliot was sitting in the room he was locked in calmly staring out the window when he sensed someone approach him from behind. He knew the door had not been opened so he knew exactly who it was and he couldn't say he was pleased.

"Hello, love…" Kijo's voice whispers gently when she was close enough to the man's ear.

"Kijo…Why have you returned? I told you to leave this place." Elliot says harshly as arms wrapped around his neck.

"I cannot leave you here alone? Who knows what that man will do to you?" Kijo whispered sweetly as Elliot shifted. "Elliot, you watched for four years as he killed people, took contracts with chains that he stole from the other Dukes, and ultimately destroyed everything you held dear. Why do you sit here in imprisonment, when you know you can end that threat with one simple cut?" Kijo says running her nails down Elliot's cheek lovingly.

"I won't kill the one I love just because he's destroyed the things I knew of in the past. Those things were lost when my body was destroyed." Elliot says softly closing his eyes sadly. "And I was not able to get them back anyway so they might as well be destroyed." He says casually as he leaned foreward to pull out of the woman's grasp.

"But Elliot, you know all too well that a child which had the ability to hold the core of Humpty Dumpty and ultimately reject it, absorb its powers and live to use such power is a threat to Glen Baskerville. You will be killed by the Baskervilles for being a hindrance to their master. This is certainly going to be the outcome if you stay here." Kijo whispers holding onto Elliot tightly so he could not get away.

"There is the problem with your story…" Elliot says with a hint of annoyance as the woman moved to face Elliot and sit on his lap.

"What would that be?" Kijo whispered sweetly, smiling at Elliot before the door was pushed open and a gun was fired, a bullet striking in Kijo in the eye. She let out a horrid screech before falling off Elliot's lap to the ground, holding her face.

"That boy is completely insane and will kill anyone that wants to take me away from him." Elliot says casually, not even fazed by the blood that was on his face or lap from the chain.

"Ugh… I won't let him get away with that." Kijo growled before she disappeared into the shadows.

"Daddy!" Cordelia shouts running over to Elliot hiding behind the chair Elliot was sitting in.

"Elliot, are you alright?" Leo says as Elliot looked up and saw Leo holding a handgun, still pointed at the spot Kijo was.

"Just fine… I was just having a chat with that thing but thanks for doing that. I have been wanting to, put a bullet in her head, for a while now." Elliot says casually as Leo quickly walked toward Elliot and Cordelia before he pulled out a handkerchief and whipping the blood off of Elliot's face. "What am I a child? I can wipe my own face." Elliot questioned giving Leo a small glare as he swatted Leo's hand away. "What the heck do you think you're doing anyway? People outside this building could have heard that shot? Aren't you the least bit worried that Pandora's going to show up?" He scolds watching Leo frown slightly.

"That woman somehow got in here without the Baskervilles knowing, Elliot. She was on top of you and pinning you to the chair. I wasn't going to let her hurt you…" Leo says with a serious look in his eyes as Elliot rolled his.

"Of for the love of-" Elliot says stopping only to shake his head and look at his daughter, who was still hiding behind the chair. "Cordelia, what are you doing here?" Elliot asks watching the girl step out from behind the chair.

"It was Kali's idea! She said that operation white was to protect the master! Kali said!" Cordelia says with a small pout and Elliot frowned.

"That's what it means… It means to protect the white one not the black one." Elliot says calmly picking the girl up. "But I think she just doesn't want me to be alone with Leo because of what might happen." He says smiling slightly as Cordelia looked at him with wide eyes and she smiled sadly.

"Is Daddy okay?" Cordelia asks softly pressing her hands onto cheeks causing the man to smile gently.

"Yeah…Daddy's just fine." Elliot says patting the girls head before Cordelia hugged him tightly.

"Elliot…" Leo growls in annoyance, giving the child a small glare, which wasn't even noticed by the child.

"Is there something else you wanted to say to me? You look angry." He asks, setting the child down on the ground as Leo moved forward and grabbed Elliot's wrist.

"You're covered in blood, stupid, and you're cuddling that girl like you weren't being straddled by that woman a few moments ago." Leo states coolly. "Vincent, could you retrieve something, that will fit Elliot?" He asks the older man, who smiled slightly and nodded at his command.

"Yes, My Lord." Vincent says before leaving the room

"That woman was a chain, Leo…and I could have handled it. She wouldn't dare harm me…" Elliot says casually watching the other male stare at him wide eyed

"That's even worse! I'm using the Jabberwocky next time that thing comes around." Leo states darkly before he pulled Elliot into the attached bathroom.

"What the heck are you doing?" Elliot grumbles as Cordelia popped up beside Leo.

"Daddy needs to wash the blood off!" Cordelia states happily grabbing Elliot's other hand happily. "Daddy, can we sleep like 'Kawanoji'***** tonight… like in that story told to me?" She asks excitedly and Elliot let out a small chuckle.

"I don't think Leo's servants would be okay with that…" Elliot says softly as Leo tilted his head.

"What are you two talking about?" Leo questions with a slight frown.

"Nothing Leo… She's just talking about a story I had told her before she went to bed." Elliot says calmly as he looked at his chest that had blood splatter on it. He shrugged off his shirt, which was torn any way because of Vincent. He wiped the blood off his chest with his shirt before Cordelia took it from him. "There happy?" He asked looking at Leo with a small scowl.

"I meant with water, Elliot." He growled before Elliot rolled his eyes and crossed his arms stubbornly.

"Don't need to…" Elliot states as Cordelia started digging under the sink.

"That's not nice, Daddy! Leo-san wants to make sure Daddy doesn't get sick from having the Bad Lady's blood on him." Cordelia says pulling out a basin. "Cold or Warm, Daddy?" She asks happily and Elliot sighs, sitting on the edge of the tub that was in the room.

"Cold." He states quietly as Cordelia smiled happily and set the basin on the sink.

"You just wait a minute." Leo shouts glaring at Elliot before he turned the water on for Cordelia, after he noticed her trying to climb on top on the sink.

"What is it now, Leo?" Elliot asks looking at Leo with a slight amused look because of what he did.

"Leo-san, don't be mad, Daddy's just a kid when it comes to taking care of himself. If it wasn't for Cordelia he wouldn't eat anything for days!" Cordelia says moving the basin into the water and Elliot simply sighed again as Leo looked at her with a look of realization.

"That's not why I haven't been eating here! I'd rather not get poisoned…" Elliot states

"Poisoned? Who the hell would poison you? How dare, you, even think I would allow that!" Leo growled as he stopped the water and pulled the basin out only for Cordelia to take it from him.

"Here, Daddy." Cordelia says setting down the basin before taking Leo's hand. "We'll wait till in the room till Daddy's done." She says smiling brightly and pulling Leo out of the room, much to the man's displeasure.

'This little brat…' Leo thought glaring at the girl who still had her back turned.

"Leo-san, don't be mad at Daddy…He just…Well, Cordelia doesn't know the words she should use without angering Daddy or Leo-san." She says with a forced smile. "He knows you wouldn't allow it but servants are easily swayed to protect their master if they sense danger." She says sitting on the floor beside the fire place.

"I see…" Leo says softly as he walked over to make a fire.

"Don't make it…" Cordelia says softly as he looked at her confusedly. "Fire is bad…It killed Raca. I don't like fire…" She says softly as she closed her eyes. I just want to sit here." She says softly as Leo stepped back and sat beside her.

"Alright then…" He says gently. 'I wonder who Raca was…I feel like I heard of that name before.' He thought closing his eyes as well.

***Kawanoji- It is when a family sleeps side by side on a mat or futon. Usually with the child in the middle with the mother and father on either side of them.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Lux ex Tenebris: **_**Light From Darkness**_

**Chapter 13**

"When you told me to follow you, I didn't expect to be drug to the library…" Elliot says softly as he sat on a chair across from Leo, who sat across from him.

"You should have… I haven't changed that much." Leo growls and Elliot glanced toward the window.

"I should have but did not." He states casually and Leo sighed.

"I figured that the size of the room would distract your…_daughter._" Leo says hating to use that word to refer to the girl but he figured to acknowledge it would get Elliot to calm down. It did not but Elliot lean back in the chair and crossed his arms.

"Well, it was more the books. She's only seen them in nobleman's hands as they walk by and she has always been curious about them." Elliot says with a small smile and as if on cue Cordelia bounced up to them and put a stack of books onto the table.

"Can Daddy read these to me, tonight?" She asks with shimmering eyes and Elliot nodded causing her to squeal before she was off again, most likely to find more books.

"Encyclopedias…and a Dictionary…" Leo says with slightly shocked look on her face.

"She looked for things with pictures… At least I taught her to put things back where they belong so you don't have a trashed library." Elliot states as Leo frowned and leaned forward.

"Elliot isn't shocked that this used to be one of your family's manors?" Leo says softly and Elliot shrugged.

"At least it's not being left empty." Elliot says with a small sigh. "There's no pure-blooded Nightrays left lo live in them so it's good they're being used." He says calmly leaning back in his chair.

"Now…Elliot, I think Leo wants you to be angry at him for using your home as a hideout." Vincent says with a small chuckle and Elliot shrugged.

"Why should I be mad? The Nightray manors were practical his home too so why should I be mad at either of you." Elliot asks calmly watching Leo shrink slightly before he closed his eyes. 'He's giving me a headache…' He thought silently feeling like his head would split into two.

"I didn't expect you to be angry…Nor did I expect you to be so laid back about it either." Leo says softly noticing Elliot seemed to be in some sort of pain. 'Is that wound hurting him? Are the bandages too tight?' Leo thought letting a small worried look form on his lips. "Are you alright, Elliot?" Leo asks softly but the man only grunted in response. 'He won't even answer that question! It's obvious he's in some sort of pain.' Leo thought scowling at Elliot's actions. "You know, if something is wrong you best tell me." He states with a highly annoyed tone and Elliot looked up at him as if to say something but they heard a loud yelp from a dog causing Elliot's eyes to snap in the direction of the sound.

"What on earth was that?" Elliot questions bored toned, looking in the direction of the noise, with little interest in his eyes.

"_Get off of Bandersnatch, you brat!_" Lily's voice screeched and Leo sighed.

"I thought I told Lily to keep that chain away from her." Leo says in an annoyed tone as Elliot stood and walked off in the direction of the yelp. Leo simply stood and followed after knowing Elliot must have been worried about the girl. When they reached where the chain was Cordelia was sitting on top of the Dog-like chain, which was looking at them with pleading eyes and Lily was trying to pull Cordelia off of the dog but to no avail.

When Lily saw Leo she instantly let go of Cordelia and lowered her head. Cordelia simply sat there with a scowl on her lips, angry for some reason or another.

"Bandersnatch was chasing a cat and ran in here before I could tell him not to and then she came from the ladder and landed on Bandersnatch's back." Lily says sounding like she would start crying.

"Cordelia…What did I tell you about jumping on animals?" Elliot states causing the girl to climb off the chain, which ran off to hide from Cordelia, and a cat to meowed at his feet in Cordelia's defense. "So, Kali came here as well?" He states in annoyance as he reached out and grabbed the cat by the back of the fur. "You are being a bother." He states to the cat before dropping her to the ground. "Behave yourself…" He states before looking at Cordelia, who was looking at him worried. "When we get home, you're grounded till_ I _say, understood?" He states and the girl lets out a whine.

"Ehh? Why, I didn't do nothing wrong! The doggy was going to eat Kali, I saved her! You're mean!" Cordelia states and Elliot scowled at her.

"You jumped off the ladder and landed on him!" Lily shouts before cringing as Leo looked at her curiously.

"That wasn't very nice..." Elliot states calmly as Cordelia blinks before lowering her head.

"I'm sorry... I just wanted to save Kali…" Cordelia says quietly and Elliot moved over to her and patted her head.

"Learn to fight a chain before you go rushing into fight one…You don't want to end up like Daddy, right?" Elliot says calmly putting his left hand onto his hip.

"No…Cordelia doesn't…" Cordelia says looking up at Elliot with a sad look on her face. "But I want to be like Daddy." She says smiling weakly and Elliot.

"That's not going to get you out of a punishment! Fake smiles are what I hate the most…You know that." He says pulling on her cheeks lightly and she let out a whine before he let go, watching her pout with cheeks colored from embarrassment.

"Elliot… What kind of reaction is that?" Leo questioned and Elliot looked up at him before he stood and tilted his head.

"Cordelia, why don't you go over to that couch over there and curl up with Kali. It's about nap time." Elliot states ignoring Leo's comment before Cordelia nodded, picking up the cat.

"Does Cordelia still get to have a bedtime story tonight?" She asks with curious eyes and Elliot smirked.

"Only one and it's my pick." Elliot says and the girl smiled brightly and bounced off to the couch and sat on it with the cat in her arms.

"Why are you babying that girl, Elliot?" Leo states looking at Elliot as he turned to head back to the table.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Elliot says casually as Leo grabbed his arm.

"This is getting old..." Leo stated pulling Elliot till they were face to face.

"You're telling me this?" Elliot muttered under his breath starting to feel uncomfortable with Leo so close to him.

"I know it's been four years and you're probably pissed that I am being so persistent but that's because I am worried about you!" He says loudly with his eye brows raised and a small frown on his lips.

"I have a headache, so if you don't want to get hurt I suggest you stop screaming at me." Elliot says darkly causing Leo to flinch.

"Elliot, what about what we were talking about..." Leo says wanting to ask him something but his mind went blank as he felt like something was off about Elliot at that moment.

"I don't want to talk about it. I've told you that time and time again!" He says pulling back away from Leo who was staring at him confusedly. "I don't know what your intentions are, but bad things will continue to happen unless you completely understand your position, you know." Elliot says calmly before walking away down the isle of books.

"Understand _my _position?" Leo muttered glaring at the man's back. "Maybe you should try to understand yours!" Leo shouts causing Elliot to stop.

"Oh, I understand my position completely, Leo. I just don't think you understand my position or your own. If you did I would not be here…" Elliot states annoyed, looking at Leo with hardened eyes. "You'd be surprised what you can find when snooping around Sablier's memories." Elliot states before smiling slightly. "It was really enlightening on things…I am disgusted and also awed by the stupidity of this world." He states turning away from Leo and started to walk away. "But I wouldn't care if it all burned away…" He adds disappearing around the corner and Leo growled and followed after him. He turned the corner and glared at Elliot who was looking at the books like he was not being held there against his will.

"Where the heck did that come from, Elliot? I don't understand what you're saying. What did you see that would make you say such things?" Leo states with a hurt look on his face. Elliot simply put the book, he was looking through, back on the shelf and looked at Leo with darkened stone blue eyes.

"Why do you think that I should give you answers to such questions? What have you done to deserve them?" Elliot questions lightly, moving toward a very confused looking Leo.

"Eh? What does that have to do with this? I am your friend that's why I think I deserve answers!" Leo states as Elliot sighed and moved past Leo.

"Yeah, well, I'm being held against my will by my supposed friend…some friend you are!" Elliot states causing Leo to flinch and tense in a defensive way.

"The only reason I am keeping you here is because you're hurt and I want to understand what happened to you the past four years so I can protect you." Leo growls at Elliot who stared at him absentmindedly.

"You're just being stupid then…I can protect myself, I don't need protected." Elliot says calmly. "Besides you already have all the answers to your questions. You just need to open your eyes and use that brain of yours." He adds with a slight tilt to his head.

"That makes no sense, what the hell is with you?" Leo questions glaring at Elliot who was looking at him angry because he wasn't leaving it be.

"I suppose it doesn't really matter whether you figure it out or not, Leo. Isn't it just good enough that you know I am alive? Why can't you just let me live in peace and go about your own duties? I'm sure you have some very big ones considering you're the head of this house." Elliot states casually as Leo grabbed Elliot's hand again.

"Stop that…Just stop." Leo says softly squeezing Elliot's hand.

"Stop what, Leo? I am just speaking my mind, am I not?" Elliot states going to pull his hand away from Leo's grasp but Leo pushed him into the wall.

"I said, _Stop it_." He ordered glaring at the man in front of him. "Just shut up and listen for once! You're so stupid! How can you so easily push away the only people you have left, Elliot? If you don't want to answer questions then fine! I'll just keep you here forever! And I won't let you see Cordelia or any of those women that you live with!" Leo stated letting angry tears form in his eyes.

"Do it and I won't ever forgive you!" Elliot states harshly as Vincent appeared at the end of the isle.

"If My Lord requests it, Elliot, we shall follow without question." Vincent states as Elliot glanced at him.

"A bunch of dogs…" Elliot muttered darkly pushing Leo back slightly before he walked down the aisle back towards where Cordelia was.

"I already had Lotti take Cordelia to a room on the other side of the manor. You won't be seeing her until you give my master everything he wishes." Vincent states amusedly, watching Elliot glare at him with a murderous intent.

"Bastard…" Elliot growled in annoyance before Leo stepped toward Elliot but Elliot turned away from him and stormed down the aisle.

"Elliot…" Leo muttered sadly as Vincent chuckled.

"Don't worry, My Lord. There are men waiting outside the library doors to grab him. Sooner or later he will tell us what you wish to know. If he wants to see that child alive that is…" Vincent says with a bow. Sighing, Leo walked away from him, intending to think of a way to apologize to Elliot for what he said.

'I really am messing things up….if I keep this up he just might start to hate me.' Leo thought sighing as he wiped his eyes slightly. "I should let him calm down before I go back to his room. He's probably pissed that I let them do that to him." He muttered sighing as he went to talk to Cordelia, just to make sure she wasn't going to throw a fit.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Um…Why do I have to put a dress on?" Alice asks with a slight scowl on her lips as she stood in the door way of Alyss's bed room. She was asked, by Oz, to watch Alyss. And she did just so as she watched Alyss look through her closet for something for Alice to wear.

"Because… You're with a bunch of boys all the time, don't you want to spend some time being a girl and doing girl things?" She asks holding up a frilly pink dress and Alice felt like fleeing back to the room that Gilbert and Oz were in.

"No! Why the heck would I want to do that?" Alice questions with a small scowl on her face.

"Because you're a girl and even though you like to hang out with boys you want to dress pretty sometimes too don't you?" She says with a small frown as she held the pink dress out to Alice squinting her eyes as if pretending Alice was wearing it.

"I don't understand what you're talking about." Alice states looking at her with slightly annoyed eyes before she sighed. "I also don't know why your room is in that Nightray boy's apartment"

"It's because I live here, silly!" Alyss says cheerfully pulling out a red and black dress. "Ah, this one's perfect! Elliot made all of these especially for me but I know you will fit perfectly! Put it on." She says happily smiling at Alice who glared at the dress before doing as she was told for fear of the threats she was given the night before.

"I don't understand it!" Alice states in annoyance as Alyss pulled out a white and pink dress, starting to change her own clothes.

"What don't you understand? I've explained it as plain as day. I live in Elliot's apartment because it's where I feel safe. Don't you feel safe here?" Alyss asks softly and Alice flinched, feeling like the girl was trying to read her mind. "Well, whether you do or not... It matters not." She states happily before Alice turned to her with hardened eyes.

"Why are you being so kind to me? Aren't you trying to kill me, Intention of the Abyss?" Alice asks under her breath before Alyss stared at her with wide eyes before they filled with hurt.

"Is it weird that I want to be friends with you now, Alice-chan?" Alyss asks softly as Alice flinched slightly.

"What are you talking about you, stupid Intention of the abyss?" She growled and Alyss smiled slightly with a gently smile.

"Hm…It's nothing, Alice-chan…I no longer feel like killing you, is all." She says with a casual look as she pulled on a stocking. "Besides…It's a lot more fun to watch you squirm in your struggle to find the memories you, yourself, threw away." Alyss says with a slight teasing look and Alice scowled at her but said nothing and continued to change into the dress.

'I really wish I could kill her…' Alice thought knowing that it'd be a bad idea.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

'I didn't go back to Elliot's room at all after that…' Leo thought sitting on the edge of his bed with a small sigh. 'He didn't eat anything today…Cordelia ate at least. Elliot would probably think we were starving her if she didn't.' He thought looking at the glasses in his hand. "They were cracked in the heat of the fire…" He says running his finger over the crack on the right lens.

"I can fix that…" Kali's voice says calmly as Leo blinked and looked at the door way, where the black haired girl appeared with a small smile on her lips.

"You…Your that girl from last night." He says looking around to see that the lights were not fleeing like they had before.

"They only flee when I use my powers… They won't bother us though." Kali says with a chipper smile as she bounced over and sat beside Leo on the bed and pulled her legs up to her chest. "You really upset, Elliot-sama, didn't you?" She says looking at Leo with her head resting on her knees. Leo simply looked back at his glasses.

"Elliot is just being stubborn…" Leo states calmly as Kali let out a small humming sound.

"Do you believe that's the problem? Think about it, Leo… Elliot's supposedly had been dead for four years." Kali says leaning back slightly with a small sigh. "What did you do in those four years? You got over his death, didn't you? That's good! Ah well, you got over the fact that you thought it was your fault, at least, but what did you do to things that reminded you of Elliot?" She says watching Leo tighten his grip on his glasses. "What did he say in the library again…hmm…_I wouldn't care if it all burned away. _Someone else I know said something similar when they first arrived here." Kali says happily and Leo pushed her off his bed.

"Shut up…Y-You don't know anything, do you hear me!" Leo shouts glaring at the girl, who was staring up at him through her hair.

"I know more then you!" She shouts back before standing. "Just because you were mean to me I'm going to tell you something mean!" She states sticking her tongue out at him.

"What the hell could you possibly know?" He growled back.

"Elliot was left behind in Isla's manor. He was still alive and breathing." She states putting her hand on her hips. "His bastard of a father of his sent people in to the building to retrieve Vanessa and Lady Nightray but they left Elliot there because Lord Nightray knew Elliot was the one killing everyone, all along." She continues causing Leo to flinch and glare at her. "And you want to know the worst part of it all!" She asks with a sudden sadistic look forming in her eyes. "Elliot was paralyzed…He couldn't move and couldn't escape from the room, even if he could move." She says darkly moving closer to Leo who was staring at her in shock before standing.

"That's a total and complete lie." Leo states, glaring at the woman in front of him, who was looking highly amused. 'It's not true… Elliot's alive. He's in his room…He's not…' Leo thought as the girl closed in on him.

"Is it now?" She says placing her hands onto Leo's head causing a sheering pain to fill Leo's mind. Leo opened his mouth to scream but nothing would come out. Trying to break away from her grasp, he found he couldn't move his arms or legs and the pain filled his entire body. "Hurts, doesn't it? This is how it feels to be burned alive. Isn't it lovely?" She says smiling wickedly as Leo tried to gasp for breath but he couldn't breathe. "Of course, something like this won't kill you but I can torture you till you break!" She says with a wild look in her eyes before a black and white cat jumped onto her face.

_"If you think I'm going to let you use my appearance to hurt Leo then you're so very wrong, Kijo!_" A girl's voice shouts over the yowl of the cat but it went unnoticed by Leo, who was gasping for breath and trying to gather his mind that was still swirling in agony.

"As if you could stop me!" She shouts throwing the cat across the room before moving over and grabbing it, throwing it into the closet. She then turned back to Leo with a slight smirk as she spun her pointer finger around and all the air in Leo's lungs left him and struggled to breath. "You think you're so smart, just because you're one of Elliot's little watch dogs. I hate you brats that hang on him like you have a right to!" She says in disgust as she ripped the cat off her face and her face turned back into her original face, which was now missing an eye from Leo shooting her. "But at least now you get to see the face of your dearly beloved's rescuer." She stated to Leo as she walked over to him and stepped on his face. "You just couldn't leave him alone, even though he told you time and time again…but you just wouldn't stop. Now I will make you stop!" She stated going to crush his head with her foot but suddenly a blade looking object was thrust through her chest and she screeched whipping herself a way from the choking teen. Leo then saw that the blade like object had come from a tiger-like chain's tail.

"Leave Leo-san alone…!" Cordelia states, holding the black and white cat gently, as Leo stared at the child struggling to breathe, salvia running out of his mouth from empty gasps and an inability to breathe.

'That chain…Cordelia is a contractor? God…Does Elliot know?' He thought in a panic because he was still unable to breathe.

"_Just wait till Elliot-sama gets here, he's already warned you once!_" The tiger-like chain hissed as he encircled Cordelia protectively with its sword like tail.

"You're going to be in big trouble, Daddy's going to punish you _this_ much!" The child states having the tiger stretch its arms out to emphasize how harsh it would be.

"Hah? You damned dog, how dare you tell me what will happen to me! That boy should have just killed you all and devour the intention." Kijo shouts in a rage as the child and the tiger were flung into the wall. The tiger then disappeared in a wave of dust and Cordelia stood slowly. "D-Daddy says that I have to learn to fight a chain before I fight one, but-but…I won't let you hurt Daddy's friend. Daddy's cried too much already because of his pain…He doesn't need any more tears." Cordelia shouts as the tigers tail appeared and splits into two swords, shooting out at Kijo but the woman dodged and kicked the girl down stepping on her chest.

"Cor…" Leo went to say but he voice would barely come out. "Stop…" He muttered taking a deep breath trying to make sure she heard him but the tiger reappeared behind Kijo and swatted the chain away from the child. Cordelia then sat up and looked at Leo with tear filled eyes because of obvious pain. "Run." Leo murmured hoping the girl heard him and the child smiled at him.

"This _dog_ does not listen very well, Leo-san." Cordelia says with a slight cheerful look on her face despite the pain she was in. "She only listens to Daddy… Right, Cheshire?" She says as her Cheshire doll appeared out of thin air in front of her. She took it in her hands and waved its hand.

"_That's right, Nyahh! If it's for Elliot-sama, Cheshire and Cordelia will do whatever it takes, Nyahh._" Cordelia says imitating the cat's voice with a huge grin across her face and Kijo swung at the tiger causing it to disappear again and the woman glared at the girl.

"What are you talking about, dog?" Kijo says with a small scowl on her lips as Leo felt someone appear behind him and a hand touch his neck gently. Suddenly he was able to breathe again and all the pain left his body, as tears streamed down his cheeks in relief as he closed his eyes wanting to sob.

"It's alright…you'll be fine. I'll take care of her; she's gone too far…" Elliot's voice whispered causing Leo's eyes to snap open.

"E-Elliot…" Leo whispered, moving his eyes up, gasping for breath not wanting to faint, wanting to see Elliot to make sure he was safe and alive.

"_Cordelia is Elliot-sama's dog…Alyss-san said that Cordelia is a good dog and will protect her master's loved one, Nyah." _Cheshire says with a chipper tone.

"Tsk… Fine then, you want to be a dog then you'll die a dog's death." Kijo shouts moving to grab Cordelia but the next thing that Leo knew the chain's hand was lying on the ground and she was screeching in pain.

"You know… I really am tired of this; you trying to make my life a living hell, just because you lead to Alyss doesn't give you the right to my property." Elliot's voice says as a person stepped in front of Leo's vision but he couldn't tell who it was exactly. "Cordelia…" He says gently as Cordelia nodded and walked over to Leo and covered his eyes.

"Don't worry, Leo-san…Daddy's not gonna hurt himself. He just doesn't want you to see what's going to happen…" She whispered gently as Leo lifted a shaking hand and grabbed the girl's wrist.

"H-He's alive?" Leo whispered with a trembling voice and Cordelia leaned forward laying her forehead onto her hands that were covering Leo's eyes.

"You don't have to worry about Da-eyeh…Elliot-sama." Cordelia whispers gently as they heard an agonizing scream of Kijo and Cordelia giggled. "He's just really angry…but don't worry. He'll make sure that Kijo will never be able to hurt you again." She whispers sweetly as the screaming continued, Leo tried to move to see what has happening but he couldn't move his body. They sat like that for an amount of time that Leo was unsure of but just as suddenly as it began it was gone and all there was left in the air was the smell of burning ash.

"All done, Cordelia…you can let him go now." Elliot says as Cordelia pulled back and Leo slowly sat up only to see Elliot covered in blood, his silver hair, dark and dripped as he looked at Leo whipping some of the blood off of his face. "She didn't hurt you did she, Leo?" Elliot asks softly licking the corner of his mouth as if it were a reflex.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Leo slowly sat up from his lying position, only to see Elliot covered in blood, his silver hair, dark and dripped as he looked at Leo wiping some of the blood off of his face. "She didn't hurt you did she, Leo?" Elliot asks softly licking the corner of his mouth as if it were a reflex.

"E-Elliot...A-Are you okay? Y-you're covered in b-blood!" Leo states trembling slightly as Elliot looked down at his body.

"Yeah…Kijo had more blood in here than I thought she would." Elliot says casually. "Luckily, I put my old shirt and pants back on before I came here." He says with a small sigh as Leo shakily stood up. "Hey, take it easy. She just gave your body a couple rounds." Elliot says moving closer to Leo with a slight calm look.

"E-E-Elliot…" Leo whimpered shakily reaching out to his as he realized his body was shaking because of his own weight.

"Leo-san should sit back down." Cordelia says touch Leo's hand and the man shook his head.

"Leo…" Elliot says sternly and Leo looked up at him with trembling eyes before he lunged at Elliot grabbing him by the waist. "Ah, geez, let go, you're getting yourself all bloody, Leo." Elliot says softly as Leo let out a sob.

"I'm not letting go. If I do…you'll just disappear." Leo muttered pressing his face against Elliot chest not caring about the smell of the blood that was starting to soak into his clothing.

"I won't…" Elliot says softly trying to gently push the boy back.

"You will." Leo says tightening his grip. 'I'm scared… I'm so scared… It can't be true. I didn't leave Elliot there to die. He's right here… I feel him… His warmth, his heartbeat, I feel it. He's alive.' Leo thought silently as he felt Elliot pull him back. He then looked up at Elliot with panicked eyes as he saw the blood all over his face.

"I didn't disappear, did I?" Elliot says with a small smile as Leo shook and stared at the blood on his hands.

"Elliot…" Leo says with wide eyes as he grabbing onto Elliot again, searching for the source of the blood.

"I'm not injured, stupid…Let's go get you cleaned up. You shouldn't have jumped on me when I am clearly covered in Blood." Elliot says calmly taking Leo's arms and gently pushing him toward the bathroom. "Cordelia get him a new night shirt please." Elliot says before entering the bathroom and setting Leo on the edge of the tub.

"How are you here?" Leo questions as he watched Elliot retrieve a basin and fill it with water.

"I sensed Kijo and I followed her presence." Elliot says calmly setting the basin down as Cordelia appeared in the room holding a wash towel and a shirt. "Thank you Cordelia." He says gently giving Cordelia a small kiss on the forehead.

"You died! You were burnt to death! How are you here?" Leo shouts causing Elliot to pull away from Cordelia and look at him with slightly startled eyes. Leo simply forced a weak smile onto his lips and shook his head slowly.

"Cordelia… Take Kali and go back to your room. I need to talk to Leo." Elliot says calmly dipping the cloth into the water before ringing it out. Looking at Leo he began to wipe away the blood on the teen's hands, watching him tremble.

"You didn't right? What I just said was a lie, right?" He asks in an almost begging tone as Elliot finished washing the blood from Leo's hands.

"No, Leo…It wasn't a lie." Elliot says softly closing his eyes sensing Leo tense and let a small breath leave his throat. He simply pulled the towel away and it into the water before ringing it out, watching the water turn a pinkish color. "I'm dead… I'm just the living dead." Elliot states calmly as he lowered his eyes into the water so he didn't have to look into Leo's eyes.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"I really hope they find Cordelia-san…" Oz says softly as he sat across from the girls, who were calmly drinking tea.

"If I know Cordelia, like I think I do, she tracked her Daddy down and is there with him." Alyss says calmly with her eyes closed. "Elliot always says that Cordelia is like a dog. Good a tracking and very loyal to her master." She adds with a small giggle.

"You shouldn't compare a child to an animal, Alyss-san." Oz says with a small frown as Alyss opened her eyes to look into his.

"Why? Cordelia is very loyal to Elliot and follows him everywhere. And when her Daddy goes away she'll sit by the window and wait for him to come home but if she knows her Daddy is in some sort of danger and will go to him. Too bad you guys caught her that time she ran away. She would have led you straight to the Baskervilles." She states with a small smile on her lips as she glanced at Alice, who went ridged at her words. 'Such a cute little sister…' Alyss thought giggling.

"It is a pity but I am sure Break and the other members will find Elliot's daughter safe and sound…_and _not in the Baskerville's hands." Oz says clapping his hands together wanting to get off this topic of discussion.

"You know…I am quite curious as to how you became so close to my brother. He is always so hard to bond with." Gilbert asks trying to change the subject and Alyss smiled as if she understood what he was trying to do. Humming slightly, she sipped at her tea, trying to think of something to tell them.

"How I met him?" She says softly pressing her lips to the edge of her cup. 'How I met him…I found him, of course.' She thought closing her eyes and recalling the event with a small smile.

_'I wonder how my sister is…' Alyss thought lying on her couch with a sad look in her eyes as she held onto a stuffed white rabbit. She was just about to close her eyes when she heard a voice humming inside the core of the abyss. Sitting up from her lying position, she looked around the room confusedly before closing her eyes and looking around the core. She then came across a lump that was not dissolving like everything else that entered that realm. "Who are you?" Alyss asked softly staring at the lump that shifted causing Alyss to tense and back away._

_"No one…"A male's voice whispered as Alyss tilted her head slightly._

_"You don't have a name?" Alyss asked as she reached out to it and pulled it out of the core._

_"I do not." The lump, now a figure still covered in darkness, says softly as it moved._

_"I see." Alyss says opening her eyes to see that the figure was badly burned but did not seem to be in any pain. "Are you hurting at all?" She asks curiously touching the figure's shoulder watching ash fall away at her touch, causing her to jerk backwards._

_"No, I am not…and it does that from time to time. Don't be afraid." The figure says softly looking around the room with a slight curiosity._

_"How long have you been in there?" Alyss asked with a slight curious look of her own as she sat of a chair that floated past her._

_"Dunno…I know I died about two, three days ago, I think." The figure says softly as he stared at the corner of Alyss's room intently._

_"Time does not exist here so we cannot be certain..." Alyss states leaning back in the chair as a second one floats by. "Have a seat…" She offers calmly watching the figure look at the chair floating beside him._

_"I think I'd rather stand...Thank you though." The figure says calmly as he pushed the chair away from him._

_"kay…" Alyss says calmly leaning forward to rest her arms onto her knees. "Say, what should I call you, since you are no one?" She asks curiously as the figure moved over to the corner of the room. He shifted there before turning to look back at Alyss._

_"Raca…"The figure says scratching at its cheek, letting the ashes fall off of its face and disappear before they hit the ground._

_"Raca? Isn't that a girl's name? You don't sound like a girl…" Alyss asks jumping off of the chain and floating over to the figure._

_"It means worthless or good-for-nothing…That's what I am now so that is what I should be called." The figure says turning away from Alyss as if ashamed to be seen._

_"I don't like it…"Alyss says reaching out and hugging the figure. "It's a sad name…I don't like things that make me sad to think about." She says pulling away noticing the ash that covered her arms. 'Is this chain nothing but ash?' She thought sadly as the figure turned and looked at her with what Alyss figured was a crooked smile._

_"Sorry but it's perfect for me." The figure says calmly as he sat down on the ground and Alyss sat beside him. "Forgive me but what is your name?" It asks tilting its head as Alyss perked up slightly. _

_"Um…My name…It's-"_

"Alyss-san?" Oz's voice calls snapping Alyss out of her daze and she looked up at Oz expectantly before she remembered that she was talking to them.

"Ah, sorry…I was just remembering how I met Elliot." Alyss says with a warm smile watching Oz smile at her.

"Can you tell me about it?" Oz asks with a slight cheerful smile on his face as Alyss giggled slightly at his fake cheerfulness.

"Of course…" She replies smiling right back at him with the same fake happiness. 'As if I would share such a precious memory with the likes of you…I am not like my sister.' She thought hotly as she glanced toward the window. "We met by chance." She states as if it were as simple as that. 'And I had not known what or who he was until he pulled me from the abyss.' She thought sipping at her cup of tea once again.

"By chance?" Gilbert asks watching Alyss carefully for any type of movement that seemed off but the girl simply set her cup down and poured herself another cup of tea.

"Yes, we just bumped into each other by chance, one day, and started talking. From then on he was and has been my best friend!" Alyss says in a matter of fact tone as she pulled her glass up to her lips without a hint of sugar.

"Ah…I see." Oz says with a slight smile that seemed sad in a way. 'If only she knew that Elliot is a murderer.' He thought watching Alyss look at him through her long lashes.

"Alyss-san, would it be possible for you to convince Elliot to come back to Pandora with us, once we are able to rescue him from the Baskervilles?" Gilbert asks causing Alyss to turn her gaze to the man.

"That is if he doesn't join the Baskerville's first." Break states appearing from behind the couch Alyss and Alice were sitting on causing Alice to flee to where Oz sat.

"You damned clown." Alice shrieks from behind Oz's chair as Alyss simply stood and retrieved another cup. She poured a glass before setting it on the table for Break and motioning Alice to come back and sit down.

"Alice-san's so cruel… All I did was join-in on the conversation." Break says with a small sulk as he hopped over the couch and scooped up the glass, watching at Alice snuck back over to Alyss with an angered look on her face.

"Elliot will not betray his own wishes…I believe that is so. We swore that we'd stay out of the affairs of you people and the Baskervilles. It's just you people have been poking around in our affairs." She says picking up her glass again and sipping at it. "I hardly call it fair though…We're hardly suspicious people. We just live day to day making dresses and sell food and beverages at the bar." She says calmly scooting closer to Alice so Break could sit beside her on the couch but the man sat on the arm of the chair Gilbert sat in.

"You are aware that Elliot is a wanted Murderer known as the head hunter." Break states with an eyebrow risen as he dropped in sugars, from his sleeve, into the tea.

"Is he?" Alyss states with an obviously amused tone causing Break to look at her in curious way.

"Yes, my dear, Alyss-san." Break retorts as the girl laughed, setting down the cups of tea.

"My…what a quirky little hobby." She states standing, moving over and putting wood into the fire place.

"Murder is not a hobby." Gilbert states watching the girl prep the fire place as if it were her own home.

"I wasn't talking about Elliot! You people are accusing Elliot of something that there's no need to accuse him of… after all he is not Elliot Nightray anymore." Alyss states standing while she dusted her hands off.

"Just because he changes his way of life, doesn't free him of his sins..." Break states walking over to the girl and tapping the fire place with his cane causing it to light.

"Hmm? You sure would know, wouldn't you?" Alyss states in an un-amused tone before she turned to return to her seat.

"What was that miss?" Break states, knowing what she had said but was greatly annoyed by her statement. Alyss simply looked at him with an innocent tilt to her head.

"I was just wondering if it was possible that he wasn't at fault…" She states clasping her hands in front of her blouse.

"Are you taking the side of a criminal?" Break states moving towards her with a curious look on his face as she frowned.

"Of course… All humans are criminals, in some shape or form, Mr. Break." Alyss says in a cutesy way before sitting beside Alice, who tensed at her closeness.

"What a strange thing for a young girl to say." Break mutters as Alyss giggled at his words.

"Elliot says I am wise beyond my years." Alyss retorts watching Break twitch and glare at her.

"Hmm…I am sure you are." Break says with a forced smile and Alyss simply smiled back.

"I can tell you a secret that Elliot told me, if you wish." Alyss says motioning for Break to come over to her.

"Oh? And what would that be?" Break states getting tired of listening to the girl's voice.

"If you stick your head into a lion's mouth…It will bite your head off." Alyss states with a serious look.

"My…Aren't you an annoying little brat?" Break states as Gilbert stood, holding his hand out to keep Break from doing anything to her.

"Elliot says that I'm just a smart ass." Alyss states with a huge grin spreading across her lips as she wrapped her arm around Alice's shoulder causing the other girl to tense and tremble in fear. "Alice-chan is so cute when she's scared. You don't have to be scared of me. I'm not some big bad Pandora officer!" She says teasingly as Alice looked away from her and nodded.

"You…"Alice goes to say but stops to sigh. "I'm not afraid of you!" She states stubbornly as she crossed her legs and arms, letting Alyss hold onto her.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"I'm dead… I'm just the living dead." Elliot states calmly as he lowered his eyes into the water so he didn't have to look into Leo's eyes.

"That's not funny…" Leo states kicking at Elliot causing the other to lock his blue stones with onyx orbs. They stared at each other for several moments before Elliot sighed and continued to clean Leo's face.

"You wanted the truth..." Elliot states as he watched Leo flinch as he touched the teen's hair. "I think you should take your shirt off. It's got blood on it." He states calmly as he continued cleaning his old friend's face. Leo sat there motionless for a few more moments before he started to unbutton his shirt knowing that he did not want that things blood on him.

"Still that wasn't funny, Elliot." Leo states letting the shirt slip from his shoulders and down his arms. "And I can wash myself thank you." He adds remembering how Elliot refused his help before grabbing the wet cloth.

"Of course… and it's not supposed to be funny because it's the truth." Elliot states watching Leo move over to the mirror and begin washing the blood from his body.

"What the hell are you talking about? You cannot be dead if you are standing right in front of me." Leo states harshly as he looked at Elliot through the mirror but Elliot was not looking at him. "Elliot!" He hisses turning to look at his friend, who seemed bothered by something.

"I don't understand it either, Leo…" Elliot whispers gently, glancing up at Leo out of the corner of his eyes. "All I know is that I died, I was burnt to ash, but I am standing here." Elliot states as he heard Leo drop the cloth he was washing his face with.

"Elliot…" Leo says looking down at the sink feeling his body shake at the memory of what Kijo made him see.

"Don't cry..." Elliot states quickly moving closer to Leo but Leo hit him half-heartedly in the chest.

"Shut up! I won't…I-This is all a lie!" Leo states harshly, glaring up at Elliot with determined eyes. 'If it's true then that means I left you there while you were still alive, don't say it's true. It's a lie…It has to be.' He thought watching Elliot stare at him with tired eyes.

"I don't have the energy nor am I in the mood to argue with you." Elliot says with a serious look in his eyes. "I was dead! End of story!" He states holding up Leo's clean sleeping shirt.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear it!" Leo shouts pushing the shirt away from him but Elliot forced it onto him.

"But you asked for it…And I told you." Elliot states buttoning up the shirt, watching the other glare at him hotly.

"I don't care…You're lying, I know you are. If you were telling the truth then why would you be here standing in front of-" Leo states before Elliot yanked him forward, crashing their lips together. He then pulled away and moved towards the door, watching Leo with intent eyes, like he'd run if Leo tried to move towards him. "Elliot… Why'd you do that?" Leo asks watching Elliot the same way he was being watched.

"Because you're pissing me off but I don't want to go on a raging rant because it might kill you." Elliot states with a serious look in his eyes causing Leo to tense slightly. This caused Elliot to give the other a slight crooked smile. "The reason I am here with you right now is because I am no longer human, okay? I said it… There, now stop telling me that I am lying…because I never lied to you, Leo." Elliot says softly as he walked out of the bathroom.

"You're lying to me right now…" Leo following Elliot with flushed cheeks. "Now, explain to me what you meant by not being human!" He orders as Elliot turned around and touched his cheek causing the other to tense and stare into Elliot's eyes.

"Sleep for now, Leo. Tomorrow you won't have to worry about me explaining because I won't be here." Elliot states running his fingers down Leo's cheek, watching at his friend eyes fluttered shut as he fell into his arms. "Sorry about this...I just cannot explain it to you right now." He whispers into the others ear before he laid him on his bed. He then set his family's sword by Leo's side with a gentle look in his eyes. "May this serve as protection from the Shadows of the Abyss…" Elliot whispers softly before pulling the covers over Leo's body and looking at the blood on the ground. "Disappear from my site." Elliot growled as the blood disappeared in a mist-like vapor. He then turned to the door. "Goodbye and Good night." He whispered before leaving the room.


End file.
